CVE-2024-5465 in HarmonyOS
Summary
by MITRE • 06/14/2024
Function vulnerabilities in the Calendar module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability will affect availability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/17/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-5465 represents a critical function-level flaw within the Calendar module of a software application, specifically targeting the availability aspect of the system's operational integrity. This type of vulnerability typically arises from improper handling of function calls, input validation failures, or memory management issues that can lead to denial of service conditions. The calendar module, being a core component in many applications, serves as a critical interface for scheduling, event management, and time-based operations that users depend upon for daily productivity. When function vulnerabilities exist within this module, they create exploitable pathways that adversaries can leverage to disrupt normal operational flows.
The technical nature of this vulnerability manifests through function execution flaws that can result in system instability or complete service unavailability. These flaws often stem from buffer overflows, improper resource deallocation, or recursive function calls that exhaust system resources. The vulnerability may be triggered through malformed input parameters, unexpected function call sequences, or manipulation of calendar data structures that cause the application to crash or enter an unrecoverable state. Attackers can exploit these weaknesses by crafting specific calendar-related requests or data inputs that cause the targeted functions to behave unpredictably, leading to system failures or resource exhaustion that directly impacts the availability of calendar services.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-5465 extends beyond simple service disruption, potentially affecting business continuity and user productivity across organizations that rely heavily on calendar functionalities. When calendar services become unavailable, users lose access to critical scheduling information, meeting notifications, and time-based workflows that are fundamental to organizational operations. This vulnerability can be particularly damaging in enterprise environments where calendar systems integrate with other business-critical applications, creating cascading failures that extend far beyond the immediate calendar module. The availability impact can result in significant downtime costs, reduced employee productivity, and potential compliance violations in regulated environments where time-based operations are mandatory.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should encompass both immediate defensive measures and long-term architectural improvements. Organizations should implement input validation controls and boundary checks to prevent malformed function calls from reaching vulnerable code paths. The implementation of proper error handling mechanisms and resource management protocols can help prevent exploitation attempts from causing system crashes or resource exhaustion. Security patches and updates should be prioritized to address the root cause of the function vulnerabilities, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect anomalous calendar-related activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, the principle of least privilege should be enforced to limit the impact of potential exploitation, and regular security assessments should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other modules that may present comparable risks. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 and CWE-122 categories related to buffer overflow conditions and heap-based buffer overflows, and may be mapped to ATT&CK techniques involving service stoppage and denial of service operations that target availability objectives.