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CVE-2022-22255

7.5 HIGH
Denial of Service

📋 TL;DR

CVE-2022-22255 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in Huawei/HarmonyOS application framework that allows attackers to crash affected systems, disrupting availability. This affects Huawei smartphones and devices running vulnerable versions of HarmonyOS. The vulnerability impacts system stability but doesn't allow data theft or privilege escalation.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Huawei smartphones
  • HarmonyOS devices
Versions: HarmonyOS versions before security patch April 2022
Operating Systems: HarmonyOS
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Affects devices with unpatched HarmonyOS installations; exact device models not specified in available references.

📦 What is this software?

Emui by Huawei

View all CVEs affecting Emui →

Harmonyos by Huawei

View all CVEs affecting Harmonyos →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete system crash requiring reboot, disrupting all device functionality and potentially causing data loss in unsaved applications.

🟠

Likely Case

Application or system service crashes, requiring user intervention to restore normal operation.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact with proper patching; potential temporary service disruption if exploited before detection.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM - While exploitation requires local access or malicious app installation, internet-facing attack vectors could exist through web-based triggers.
🏢 Internal Only: HIGH - Malicious apps or compromised internal systems could exploit this to disrupt device functionality.

🎯 Exploit Status

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

Exploitation likely requires local access or malicious application installation; no public exploit code identified.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: April 2022 security patch or later

Vendor Advisory: https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/bulletin/2022/4/

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Check for updates in device Settings > System & updates > Software update. 2. Install April 2022 security patch or later. 3. Restart device after installation.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict app installations

all

Only install apps from trusted sources like Huawei AppGallery to reduce attack surface

Monitor system stability

all

Watch for unexpected app crashes or system instability as potential exploitation indicators

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Isolate affected devices from untrusted networks and applications
  • Implement application allowlisting to prevent unauthorized app execution

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check device security patch level in Settings > About phone > Build number - if before April 2022, device is vulnerable

Check Version:

Not applicable - check via device settings UI

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify security patch date shows April 2022 or later in Settings > About phone

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Unexpected application framework crashes
  • System service termination logs
  • Abnormal process termination

Network Indicators:

  • Unusual network activity preceding crashes if triggered remotely

SIEM Query:

Not applicable - device-level logs would need mobile device management integration

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2022-22255
CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published: April 11, 2022
Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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