CVE-2025-46592 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Huawei's HarmonyOS version 5.0.0. The issue is a NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) within the USB Hardware Driver Interface (HDI) module. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the software attempts to access or manipulate memory through a pointer that has not been properly initialized or has been set to NULL, leading to a crash or denial of service. In this case, the vulnerability resides in the USB HDI driver, which is responsible for managing USB hardware interactions. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can cause the affected system to crash or become unresponsive, impacting system availability. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.4, indicating a medium severity level. The vector string (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L) shows that the attack requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacts integrity and availability but not confidentiality. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time, and no patches have been linked yet. The vulnerability was reserved on April 25, 2025, and published on May 6, 2025. Since the flaw affects the USB driver, it could be triggered by connecting a malicious USB device or by local processes interacting with USB hardware, potentially causing denial of service conditions on devices running HarmonyOS 5.0.0.

For European organizations using Huawei HarmonyOS devices, particularly version 5.0.0, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to system availability. Devices could be rendered unresponsive or crash due to malformed USB interactions, which could disrupt business operations relying on these devices. This is especially critical for sectors that depend on mobile or embedded devices running HarmonyOS for operational continuity, such as telecommunications, manufacturing, or logistics. Although the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or allow privilege escalation, denial of service conditions can lead to operational downtime, loss of productivity, and potential safety risks in industrial environments. Since exploitation requires local access and low privileges, insider threats or compromised endpoints could trigger the vulnerability. The lack of user interaction requirement means automated or scripted attacks could be feasible once local access is obtained. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits over time. Organizations relying on Huawei devices should be aware of this vulnerability's potential to disrupt availability and plan accordingly.

To mitigate CVE-2025-46592, European organizations should: 1) Monitor Huawei's official security advisories and promptly apply patches or updates once available for HarmonyOS 5.0.0. 2) Restrict physical and local access to devices running HarmonyOS to trusted personnel only, minimizing the risk of malicious USB device connections or local exploitation. 3) Implement endpoint security controls that monitor and restrict USB device usage, including whitelisting authorized devices and disabling unused USB ports where feasible. 4) Employ device integrity monitoring to detect abnormal crashes or system behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 5) Educate users and administrators about the risks of connecting untrusted USB devices and enforce policies to prevent unauthorized hardware connections. 6) For critical environments, consider network segmentation and device isolation strategies to limit the impact of potential denial of service conditions. 7) Maintain robust incident response plans to quickly address availability disruptions caused by this or similar vulnerabilities. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling local access vectors and USB device management, which are key to preventing exploitation of this specific vulnerability.