VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-26691: OpenHarmony · Improper Preservation of Permissions

Affects OpenHarmonySource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
OpenHarmony OpenHarmony	Affected =5.0.1 <=5.0.3	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-26691, European organizations should: 1) Monitor OpenHarmony vendor communications closely for official patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once available. 2) Restrict local access to devices running vulnerable OpenHarmony versions by enforcing strict physical security controls and user authentication mechanisms to limit the pool of potential attackers. 3) Implement role-based access controls and audit permission configurations to ensure that only authorized users can query sensitive permissions or data. 4) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capable of monitoring unusual local access patterns or permission queries that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Where feasible, isolate OpenHarmony devices in network segments with limited exposure and enforce strict network access controls to reduce the risk of lateral movement after local compromise. 6) Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on local privilege escalation and information disclosure vectors to identify and remediate similar permission-related weaknesses proactively.

Description

in OpenHarmony v5.0.3 and prior versions allow a local attacker cause information leak through get permission.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information within systems running OpenHarmony, particularly in environments where local access is possible, such as shared workstations, kiosks, or devices in multi-user settings. Confidentiality breaches could lead to exposure of personal data, intellectual property, or operational details, which may violate GDPR and other data protection regulations, resulting in legal and reputational consequences. Since OpenHarmony is an open-source operating system designed for IoT and embedded devices, organizations deploying it in critical infrastructure, manufacturing, or smart city applications could face increased risks of information leakage that might facilitate further attacks or espionage. The lack of impact on integrity and availability reduces the risk of direct system disruption but does not diminish the importance of protecting sensitive data. The medium severity suggests that while exploitation requires local access, the consequences of data leakage are significant enough to warrant prompt attention.

CWE-281Improper Preservation of Permissions (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not preserve permissions or incorrectly preserves permissions when copying, restoring, or sharing objects, which can cause them to have less restrictive permissions than intended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

gitee.com/openharmony/security/blob/master/zh/security-disclosure/2025/2025-06.md (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 9 Jul 2025, 00:41 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-281

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats