CVE-2021-40062

7.5 HIGH

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes a buffer overflow vulnerability in Huawei video framework components where input buffer copying occurs without proper size validation. Attackers could exploit this to cause denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code. This affects Huawei smartphones and tablets running specific EMUI versions.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Huawei smartphones
  • Huawei tablets
Versions: EMUI 11.0.0, EMUI 11.0.1, EMUI 12.0.0
Operating Systems: Android with Huawei EMUI skin
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Affects devices with specific video framework components. Exact device models not specified in available references.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete device compromise, data theft, or persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

Application crashes and denial of service affecting video functionality and potentially other system components.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper memory protections and exploit mitigations in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - Requires user interaction with malicious content but could be delivered via web/messaging apps.
🏢 Internal Only: LOW - Primarily affects mobile devices rather than internal enterprise systems.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No
Complexity: MEDIUM

Requires user interaction (opening malicious video file) and specific memory layout conditions. No public exploits confirmed.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Security updates released March 2022

Vendor Advisory: https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/bulletin/2022/3/

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Check for system updates in device Settings > System & updates > Software update. 2. Install available security updates. 3. Restart device after installation completes.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable automatic media processing

all

Prevent automatic processing of video files from untrusted sources

Use trusted video applications only

all

Configure device to use specific trusted video players with security updates

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Isolate affected devices from processing untrusted video content
  • Implement application allowlisting to restrict video processing to trusted applications only

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check EMUI version in Settings > About phone > EMUI version. If version is 11.0.0, 11.0.1, or 12.0.0, device may be vulnerable.

Check Version:

Settings > About phone > EMUI version (GUI only, no CLI command available)

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify EMUI version is updated beyond vulnerable versions and security patch level is March 2022 or later.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Video framework crashes
  • Media server process termination
  • Abnormal memory access patterns in system logs

Network Indicators:

  • Unusual video file downloads from untrusted sources
  • Suspicious media content delivery

SIEM Query:

Process:video_framework AND (EventID:crash OR Exception:buffer_overflow)

🔗 References

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