CVE-2025-6969 in OpenHarmony
Summary
by MITRE • 03/16/2026
in OpenHarmony v5.1.0 and prior versions allow a local attacker cause DOS through improper input.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/20/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-6969 affects OpenHarmony versions 5.1.0 and earlier, representing a critical local privilege escalation issue that enables attackers to execute denial of service attacks through improper input handling. This vulnerability resides within the operating system's core components and specifically targets the input validation mechanisms that process user and system data. The flaw manifests when the system fails to properly validate or sanitize input parameters, leading to potential system instability and complete service disruption. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous in embedded systems and IoT environments where OpenHarmony is commonly deployed, as they can be exploited by local attackers with minimal privileges to compromise system availability and functionality.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation routines within the OpenHarmony kernel or system services. When malformed or unexpected input data is processed, the system's error handling mechanisms fail to properly terminate or recover from the malformed input conditions. This results in resource exhaustion, memory corruption, or thread termination that ultimately leads to system-wide denial of service conditions. The vulnerability operates at the system level where input validation failures can trigger cascading failures throughout the operating system's core services, affecting critical system functions and potentially rendering the entire device unusable. The improper input handling can occur during routine system operations, making exploitation both frequent and difficult to detect.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-6969 extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass complete system compromise in certain scenarios. Local attackers can leverage this vulnerability to systematically degrade system performance, causing applications to crash, services to become unavailable, and potentially leading to complete system reboot cycles. In IoT and embedded device deployments, this vulnerability can result in significant operational downtime and may even be exploited to create persistent availability issues that require physical intervention or complete system reinstallation. The vulnerability's local nature means that attackers do not require network access or special privileges beyond basic user accounts, making it particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where system stability is paramount. This issue directly relates to CWE-129 and CWE-707 within the CWE database, which address improper input validation and insufficient error handling in system components.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-6969 should prioritize immediate patch deployment for all affected OpenHarmony versions, with particular attention to devices running versions 5.1.0 and earlier. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation measures across all system interfaces and ensure that error handling routines properly manage malformed input data without causing system instability. Network segmentation and access controls should be enhanced to limit local access to critical systems, while monitoring solutions should be deployed to detect unusual system behavior patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, system administrators should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify any custom applications or services that may be vulnerable to similar input validation issues, as these could present additional attack vectors. The remediation process should also include regular system updates and security patches, with particular attention to ensuring that all system components are running patched versions to prevent exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1499 for network denial of service and T1068 for local privilege escalation, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security controls that address both local and network-based attack vectors.