CVE-2022-41594 in HarmonyOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/14/2022
The phones have the heap overflow, out-of-bounds read, and null pointer vulnerabilities in the fingerprint trusted application (TA).Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect the fingerprint service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/15/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-41594 represents a critical security flaw within the fingerprint trusted application (TA) of certain mobile devices, specifically affecting the heap memory management and data access controls. This issue manifests through multiple interconnected vulnerabilities including heap overflow conditions, out-of-bounds read operations, and null pointer dereferences that collectively compromise the integrity and stability of the fingerprint authentication service. The presence of these vulnerabilities within the trusted application environment indicates a fundamental weakness in the secure element's memory handling mechanisms, potentially allowing malicious actors to exploit the system's trust model and compromise biometric authentication processes.
The technical exploitation of these vulnerabilities occurs within the fingerprint TA execution environment where improper memory management leads to unauthorized data access and potential code execution. The heap overflow condition suggests that the TA fails to properly validate input lengths or memory allocations, allowing attackers to overwrite adjacent memory regions and potentially corrupt the fingerprint service's operational state. The out-of-bounds read vulnerability indicates that the application accesses memory locations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, which could expose sensitive data or trigger system instability. Additionally, the null pointer dereference presents a path for system crashes or potential privilege escalation through controlled memory corruption that may be leveraged to gain deeper access to the device's secure processing environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple fingerprint authentication failures, as it compromises the fundamental security assurances that users expect from biometric systems. Attackers exploiting these conditions could potentially manipulate fingerprint data, bypass authentication mechanisms, or cause denial of service conditions that render the fingerprint service completely unavailable. The threat landscape for such vulnerabilities aligns with attack patterns documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1068 technique for exploit for privilege escalation and T1566 for credential access through social engineering. The vulnerability's presence in the trusted application environment particularly raises concerns about supply chain security and the integrity of hardware security modules that protect sensitive biometric data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-41594 require immediate firmware updates from device manufacturers, as the vulnerabilities exist within the core security infrastructure of the device. System administrators and security teams should implement monitoring for unusual fingerprint authentication patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while also ensuring proper input validation and memory management practices are enforced. The vulnerability's classification under CWE-121 for heap-based buffer overflow and CWE-125 for out-of-bounds read demonstrates the need for comprehensive memory safety reviews in trusted application development. Organizations should also consider implementing additional authentication layers and monitoring solutions that can detect anomalies in biometric service behavior, while maintaining awareness of potential lateral movement opportunities that such vulnerabilities might provide to attackers seeking to compromise broader system security.