CVE-2025-48908 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Huawei's HarmonyOS version 5.0.0, specifically within the Ability Auto Startup service of the foundation process. The root cause is an unsynchronized access to shared data in a multithreaded context, classified under CWE-567. This type of flaw occurs when multiple threads access and manipulate shared data concurrently without proper synchronization mechanisms, leading to race conditions and unpredictable behavior. In this case, the vulnerability affects the availability of the system, meaning that successful exploitation could cause denial of service or system instability. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.7, with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating that the attack requires local access with low complexity but high privileges and no user interaction. The impact affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability, suggesting that exploitation could lead to significant compromise of system functions. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet. Given that HarmonyOS is Huawei's proprietary operating system used primarily on IoT devices, smartphones, and embedded systems, this vulnerability could affect devices relying on the Ability Auto Startup service to manage application lifecycle and system processes. The unsynchronized access could lead to crashes or denial of service, impacting device reliability and user experience.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-48908 depends largely on the deployment of Huawei HarmonyOS devices within their infrastructure or consumer base. Enterprises using HarmonyOS-based IoT devices, industrial control systems, or mobile devices could face availability disruptions if the vulnerability is exploited. This could lead to operational downtime, loss of productivity, and potential cascading effects if critical systems rely on these devices. Additionally, the compromise of confidentiality and integrity indicated by the CVSS vector suggests that sensitive data handled by these devices could be at risk, raising compliance concerns under GDPR. The requirement for high privileges and local access limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate insider threats or attacks via compromised internal networks. Given Huawei's significant market presence in telecommunications and consumer electronics, organizations in sectors such as telecom, manufacturing, and smart infrastructure in Europe could be particularly vulnerable. The absence of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but underscores the need for proactive mitigation to prevent future exploitation.

To mitigate CVE-2025-48908, European organizations should first inventory all HarmonyOS 5.0.0 devices within their environment, focusing on those running the Ability Auto Startup service. Since no official patches are currently available, organizations should engage with Huawei support channels to obtain security advisories and updates. In the interim, restricting local access to these devices is critical; implement strict access controls, network segmentation, and monitoring to prevent unauthorized or high-privilege local access. Employ runtime protection mechanisms such as application whitelisting and behavior monitoring to detect anomalies indicative of exploitation attempts. For development or deployment environments, review and harden multithreaded code handling shared data to ensure proper synchronization, if custom applications are involved. Additionally, maintain comprehensive logging and incident response readiness to quickly identify and respond to any exploitation attempts. Finally, consider deploying compensating controls such as redundancy and failover mechanisms to mitigate availability impacts if a device becomes unstable.