HarmonyosOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2025-54617

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the dms_fwk module. Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can cause RCE.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the dms_fwk module. By overflowing a stack-allocated buffer, an attacker can overwrite return addresses or adjacent memory, potentially achieving remote code execution with the privileges of the affected process.

MitigationApply available patches or updates for the dms_fwk module. If no patch exists, conduct code review of the vulnerable module to identify and remediate unsafe buffer operations (e.g., unbounded strcpy, sprintf, or similar functions). Implement input validation and consider deploying runtime exploit mitigation protections.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
HarmonyosOperating system
Affected:= 5.1.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the HarmonyOS version
    Check the system version on the device. On HarmonyOS, you can typically find this in Settings > About Device, or by running 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or 'sysprop ro.build.version.sdk' via ADB or terminal.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 5.1.0
  2. Verify the dms_fwk module is present
    Check if the dms_fwk module exists on the system. This can typically be found in /system/lib/ or /system/lib64/ directories, or listed in the system module manifest. Use 'ls -la /system/lib*/libdms_fwk*' or similar commands accessible via ADB or root access.
    Affected if The dms_fwk module is present on the device
  3. Confirm the module is actively loaded or in use
    Inspect if the dms_fwk module is currently loaded or actively referenced by running processes. Use commands like 'ps -A | grep dms' or check /proc/*/maps for references to the module if you have access.
    Affected if The dms_fwk module is loaded into memory and running as part of an active process
  4. Review system logs for crash indicators
    Check system logs (logcat on Android-based HarmonyOS, or /var/log/ directories) for any crashes, segfaults, or abnormal terminations involving the dms_fwk process, particularly those mentioning stack overflow, buffer overflow, or memory corruption.
    Affected if There are recent crash logs or error messages involving dms_fwk that suggest exploitation attempts or successful overflows

A system is affected only if it runs Huawei HarmonyOS version exactly 5.1.0 AND has the dms_fwk module present and actively loaded.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply available patches or updates for the dms_fwk module. If no patch exists, conduct code review of the vulnerable module to identify and remediate unsafe buffer operations (e.g., unbounded strcpy, sprintf, or similar functions). Implement input validation and consider deploying runtime exploit mitigation protections.

Fix this in Harmonyos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54617 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-54617 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data