CVE-2025-21097 in OpenHarmony
Summary
by MITRE • 03/04/2025
in OpenHarmony v5.0.2 and prior versions allow a local attacker cause DOS through NULL pointer dereference.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/04/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-21097 affects OpenHarmony versions 5.0.2 and earlier, representing a critical local privilege escalation issue that can lead to system denial of service conditions. This flaw manifests as a NULL pointer dereference, a common software vulnerability pattern that occurs when an application attempts to access memory through a null reference, resulting in abrupt system termination or crash. The vulnerability specifically impacts the operating system's kernel or core components that handle system calls or process management functions, creating a scenario where malicious local users can exploit this weakness to disrupt normal system operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a failure in proper input validation and memory management within the OpenHarmony kernel space. When legitimate system processes or user-space applications interact with kernel components, the absence of proper null checks during pointer operations creates an exploitable condition. This type of flaw typically arises from inadequate defensive programming practices where developers assume certain pointers will always contain valid addresses, failing to account for scenarios where pointers might legitimately be null. The null pointer dereference occurs at runtime when the system attempts to execute a memory access operation on a null reference, causing immediate system termination or a kernel panic that results in complete system shutdown.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to embedded systems and IoT devices that rely on OpenHarmony for their core functionality. Local attackers who can execute code on the target system can leverage this weakness to cause complete system crashes, effectively rendering devices unusable until manual reboot occurs. The denial of service condition can be particularly damaging in mission-critical environments such as industrial control systems, automotive applications, or network infrastructure devices where availability is paramount. The vulnerability's local nature means that exploitation requires physical or authenticated access to the device, but the impact remains severe as it can be used to disrupt service availability or potentially create persistent denial of service conditions that require manual intervention to resolve.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-476, which specifically addresses NULL pointer dereference conditions in software implementations. This classification indicates that the flaw stems from improper handling of null references during program execution, a pattern that has been consistently documented in software security literature as a primary cause of system instability and potential privilege escalation. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability would map to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service, though in this case the impact is local system denial of service rather than network-based. The attack surface is limited to local system access but the consequences are severe enough to warrant immediate attention from system administrators and security teams responsible for maintaining OpenHarmony-based deployments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of affected OpenHarmony installations to version 5.1.0 or later, where the NULL pointer dereference has been addressed through proper input validation and memory management routines. System administrators should implement access controls to limit local user privileges and prevent unauthorized local execution of potentially malicious code. Additionally, monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual system crash patterns or kernel panic events that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider implementing runtime protections such as address space layout randomization and stack canaries to make exploitation more difficult even if the underlying vulnerability is not patched immediately. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar memory management issues across the entire system stack and ensure comprehensive protection against similar classes of vulnerabilities.