CVE-2022-41595 is a set of vulnerabilities identified in Huawei's HarmonyOS version 2.0, specifically within the fingerprint trusted application (TA). The vulnerabilities include heap overflow, out-of-bounds read, and null pointer dereference issues. These types of memory corruption flaws can lead to unpredictable behavior in the fingerprint service, potentially causing denial of service or integrity issues. The heap overflow (CWE-787) can allow an attacker to overwrite adjacent memory, the out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) can expose sensitive memory contents, and the null pointer dereference (CWE-476) can cause application crashes. Exploitation requires local access with high privileges (PR:H) and does not require user interaction (UI:N). The attack vector is local (AV:L), meaning the attacker must have local access to the device. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality but can affect integrity and availability of the fingerprint service. No known exploits are reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. The CVSS score is 3.4 (low severity), reflecting limited impact and exploitation complexity.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability is relatively limited due to the low severity and the requirement for local high-privilege access. However, organizations using Huawei HarmonyOS devices, particularly version 2.0, may face risks related to the fingerprint authentication service's reliability and integrity. Disruption of fingerprint services could affect user authentication workflows, potentially leading to denial of service or forcing fallback to less secure authentication methods. While confidentiality is not directly impacted, the integrity and availability of biometric authentication could be compromised, which may have operational impacts in environments relying on biometric security. Given the local access requirement, the threat is more relevant in scenarios where devices are physically accessible or compromised by insiders or malware with elevated privileges.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Ensure all Huawei HarmonyOS devices are updated to the latest firmware once patches become available from Huawei. 2) Restrict physical access to devices and enforce strict privilege management to prevent unauthorized local access. 3) Monitor devices for unusual crashes or fingerprint service disruptions that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting suspicious local privilege escalations or memory corruption attempts. 5) Consider disabling fingerprint authentication temporarily in high-security environments until a patch is applied, using alternative authentication methods. 6) Engage with Huawei support channels to obtain official patches or workarounds and verify device compliance. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling local access, monitoring for service anomalies, and managing authentication fallback strategies.