Security Resilience

CVE-2023-52537

Huawei Harmonyos 2.0.0 … 4.0.0

Published
08 April 2024
Modified
13 March 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0036 28th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-52537 is a high-severity Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges (CWE-280) vulnerability in Huawei Harmonyos. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Fallback Channels (T1008); ranked at the 28th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access ControlA10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Vulnerability of package name verification being bypassed in the HwIms module. Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability will affect availability.

CWE(s)
CWE-280CWE-284

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1027.012 LNK Icon Smuggling Stealth
Adversaries may smuggle commands to download malicious payloads past content filters by hiding them within otherwise seemingly benign windows shortcut files.
attack.mitre.org →
T1027.014 Polymorphic Code Stealth
Adversaries may utilize polymorphic code (also known as metamorphic or mutating code) to evade detection.
attack.mitre.org →
T1029 Scheduled Transfer Exfiltration
Adversaries may schedule data exfiltration to be performed only at certain times of day or at certain intervals.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-30418Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-52367Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-46759Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-46755Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-52375Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2025-31172Same product: Huawei Harmonyos
CVE-2023-52099Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-41311Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2023-44118Same product: Huawei Emui
CVE-2024-54096Same product: Huawei Emui

Affected Assets

huawei
emui
12.0.0, 13.0.0
huawei
harmonyos
2.0.0, 2.1.0, 3.0.0, 3.1.0, 4.0.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.2
  • V8.3.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Directly enforces approved authorizations for logical access, stopping unauthorized actors from reaching resources.

AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement good match

Enforces flow-control policies that restrict information movement between subjects and objects.

AC-5 Separation of Duties good match

Documents duties and assigns access so that no single account can bypass intended restrictions.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match

Limits each account to the minimum privileges needed, reducing the chance of unauthorized access.

AC-2 Account Management partial match

Defines account types, assigns/removes access, and reviews accounts to ensure only authorized actors can reach resources.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions partial match

Ensuring access decisions are applied to every request structurally prevents the product from taking unexpected paths when privileges are lacking.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

DE.CM-09 partial match
blocks

Runtime monitoring of software and data surfaces adverse events triggered by unhandled permission failures.

PR.AA-05 partial match
blocks

Defining, enforcing and reviewing access permissions with least privilege directly prevents code paths that mishandle insufficient privileges.

PR.PS-04 partial match
blocks

Generating logs of permission-related events enables detection and analysis of improper handling.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.1 Policies for information security partial match
blocks

A.5.1 only requires that an information security policy and topic-specific policies (including on access control) exist and are reviewed; it does not itself enforce, implement or act on any access restriction, so the weakness can still be exploited (per the owner's explicit rule that governance/dependency clauses score none on effect verbs).

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
blocks

A.5.15 only requires determining requirements, defining a topic-specific policy on access control, and considering various factors; it does not itself enforce, implement, or prevent exploitation of mishandled insufficient permissions.

A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248548 OL 8 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. blocks CWE-280
  • V-248596 OL 8 must enable the SELinux targeted policy. blocks CWE-280
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. blocks CWE-280
RHEL 9 (2 rules)
  • V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. blocks CWE-280
  • V-272496 RHEL 9 must elevate the SELinux context when an administrator calls the sudo command. blocks CWE-280

References