CVE-2025-48911 is a high-severity vulnerability identified in Huawei's HarmonyOS version 5.0.0, specifically within the note sharing module. The root cause is an incorrect privilege assignment (CWE-266), meaning that the system improperly grants permissions, potentially allowing unauthorized users to perform actions they should not be able to. The vulnerability is characterized by a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.2, indicating a high impact. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:H) reveals that exploitation requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), and user interaction (UI:R). The scope is changed (S:C), meaning the vulnerability affects resources beyond the initially vulnerable component. The impact on confidentiality is high (C:H), no impact on integrity (I:N), and high impact on availability (A:H). This suggests that an attacker who can trick a local user into interacting with a malicious payload could cause significant denial of service or disruption of availability in the note sharing module, potentially affecting the overall system availability. No known exploits are reported in the wild yet, and no patches have been linked at this time. The vulnerability was reserved on May 28, 2025, and published on June 6, 2025.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-48911 could be significant, especially those using Huawei HarmonyOS devices in their operational environment. The vulnerability's ability to cause high availability disruption could lead to denial of service conditions on affected devices, impacting business continuity, especially in sectors relying on mobile or embedded devices running HarmonyOS. Confidential data confidentiality is also at risk, which could affect sensitive note-sharing applications used internally or externally. Given the local attack vector and requirement for user interaction, the threat is more pronounced in environments where users have physical or local access to devices or where social engineering could be leveraged to induce interaction. This could affect enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure operators using HarmonyOS devices or Huawei hardware. The disruption could also affect supply chains or communication channels relying on these devices, with cascading effects on operational efficiency and security posture.

To mitigate CVE-2025-48911, European organizations should: 1) Immediately inventory all Huawei HarmonyOS devices, particularly those running version 5.0.0, and restrict local access to trusted personnel only. 2) Implement strict user training and awareness programs to reduce the risk of social engineering attacks that require user interaction. 3) Monitor device behavior for unusual availability disruptions or note sharing module anomalies. 4) Apply any available patches or updates from Huawei as soon as they are released; in the absence of patches, consider temporary workarounds such as disabling the note sharing module if feasible. 5) Employ endpoint protection solutions capable of detecting privilege escalation attempts or abnormal permission changes locally. 6) Enforce network segmentation to limit the impact of compromised devices. 7) Engage with Huawei support channels to obtain timely vulnerability management guidance and updates. 8) For critical environments, consider alternative devices or OS platforms until the vulnerability is fully mitigated.