CVE-2021-22382 in E3372
Summary
by MITRE • 06/23/2021
Huawei LTE USB Dongle products have an improper permission assignment vulnerability. An attacker can locally access and log in to a PC to induce a user to install a specially crafted application. After successfully exploiting this vulnerability, the attacker can perform unauthenticated operations. Affected product versions include:E3372 E3372h-153TCPU-V200R002B333D01SP00C00.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/26/2021
The CVE-2021-22382 vulnerability represents a critical improper permission assignment flaw within Huawei LTE USB dongle products that fundamentally compromises the security posture of connected devices. This vulnerability specifically affects the E3372 E3372h-153TCPU-V200R002B333D01SP00C00 product line, where the device fails to properly enforce access controls and permission boundaries. The flaw stems from inadequate privilege management within the device's software architecture, allowing unauthorized local access that bypasses normal authentication mechanisms. This issue creates a dangerous attack surface where malicious actors can exploit the device's trust relationships to gain elevated privileges without proper authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the device's failure to properly validate user permissions during critical operations, particularly when handling local access requests from connected PCs. When an attacker successfully exploits this weakness, they can leverage the device's inherent trust relationship with the host system to perform unauthorized operations that should require proper authentication. This misconfiguration allows for privilege escalation attacks where local malicious applications can manipulate the device's behavior through specially crafted installations that exploit the weak permission model. The vulnerability essentially creates a backdoor pathway that circumvents the normal security controls designed to protect device functionality and user data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it enables attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities without detection. Once exploited, attackers can manipulate network configurations, access sensitive communication data, and potentially establish persistent access points within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability's local nature means that physical access to the device or the ability to install malicious applications on the host system provides sufficient attack surface to compromise the device. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where physical security is not adequately maintained, as it can be exploited by attackers with minimal technical sophistication. The affected product versions represent a significant portion of Huawei's LTE USB dongle market, amplifying the potential impact across various user bases including enterprise and consumer deployments.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on immediate firmware updates from Huawei to address the permission assignment flaws in the affected device versions. Organizations must implement strict access control policies that limit the ability of local applications to interact with network devices, particularly those with privileged access capabilities. Network segmentation and monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect anomalous device behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-276 which specifically addresses improper permission assignment in software systems, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege. From an attack perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1068 which involves exploiting legitimate credentials and privileges to gain system access. Additionally, the vulnerability demonstrates characteristics of privilege escalation attacks that can be leveraged for lateral movement within network environments, making it a critical concern for security operations teams that must monitor for unauthorized device modifications and access patterns.