CVE-2025-46586 is a permission control vulnerability identified in the contacts module of Huawei's HarmonyOS version 5.0.0. The weakness is classified under CWE-862, which refers to missing authorization, meaning that the system fails to properly verify whether a user or process has the necessary permissions to perform certain actions. Specifically, this vulnerability allows unauthorized access to certain functions or data within the contacts module without proper permission checks. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.1, indicating a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L) reveals that the attack vector is local (AV:L), requiring low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N). The scope is unchanged (S:U), with no impact on confidentiality (C:N), but with low impact on integrity (I:L) and low impact on availability (A:L). The vulnerability could allow an attacker with local access to the device to perform unauthorized actions that may degrade the availability of the contacts module or related services, potentially causing denial of service or disruption. There are no known exploits in the wild as of the publication date, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was reserved on April 25, 2025, and published on May 6, 2025.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability depends largely on the deployment of Huawei HarmonyOS devices within their environment. Given that the vulnerability requires local access and can affect availability, it poses a risk primarily to organizations that use HarmonyOS-powered devices for critical communications or contact management. Disruption of the contacts module could impair communication workflows, potentially affecting business operations, especially in sectors relying on mobile communications and contact data integrity. Although the confidentiality impact is null, the integrity and availability impacts could lead to partial denial of service or data manipulation within contact lists, which could cascade into operational inefficiencies or errors. The lack of required privileges or user interaction increases the risk that an attacker with physical or local access could exploit this vulnerability. European organizations with mobile device management policies that include HarmonyOS devices should be aware of this risk, particularly in environments where device access controls are weak or where devices are shared or accessible to multiple users.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should implement strict physical and logical access controls to prevent unauthorized local access to HarmonyOS devices. This includes enforcing device lock screens with strong authentication methods, limiting device sharing, and monitoring for unusual local activity. Organizations should also maintain an inventory of all HarmonyOS devices and restrict their use in sensitive environments until patches are available. Network segmentation and endpoint detection solutions can help identify anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. Since no patches are currently available, organizations should engage with Huawei support channels to obtain updates or workarounds as soon as they are released. Additionally, educating users about the risks of unauthorized device access and ensuring that devices are not left unattended can reduce exploitation opportunities. Finally, organizations should prepare incident response plans that include scenarios involving local exploitation of mobile device vulnerabilities to minimize operational impact.