CVE-2024-10074
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a use-after-free vulnerability in OpenHarmony that allows a local attacker to escalate privileges from common user permissions to root access. The vulnerability affects OpenHarmony v4.1.1 and earlier versions. Attackers must have local access to the system to exploit this flaw.
💻 Affected Systems
- OpenHarmony
📦 What is this software?
Openharmony by Openatom
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise where an attacker gains root privileges, enabling full control over the device, data theft, persistence mechanisms, and disabling of security controls.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation allowing attackers to bypass application sandboxes, access sensitive data, and modify system configurations.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper access controls and privilege separation are enforced, though the vulnerability still presents a significant security risk.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and knowledge of the specific use-after-free condition. No public exploit code is currently available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: OpenHarmony v4.1.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://gitee.com/openharmony/security/blob/master/zh/security-disclosure/2024/2024-12.md
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update OpenHarmony to version 4.1.2 or later. 2. Apply the security patch provided by OpenHarmony maintainers. 3. Verify the update was successful by checking the system version.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict local access
allLimit physical and remote local access to vulnerable systems to reduce attack surface
Enhanced monitoring
allImplement strict monitoring of privilege escalation attempts and unusual process behavior
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit local user privileges
- Deploy application sandboxing and containerization to isolate vulnerable components
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check OpenHarmony version using system settings or command line. If version is 4.1.1 or earlier, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
getprop ro.build.version.releaseVerify Fix Applied:
Verify OpenHarmony version is 4.1.2 or later after applying updates.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected privilege escalation events
- Processes running with unexpected root privileges
- Kernel or system component crashes
Network Indicators:
- None - this is a local privilege escalation vulnerability
SIEM Query:
Process creation events where parent process has low privileges but child process has root privileges