CVE-2025-53176VulnerabilityPublished 7 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-53176: Huawei HarmonyOS · Stack-based Buffer Overflow

Affects Huawei HarmonyOSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.3 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.3Low

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

EPSS: 0.09% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 0% 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:N/I:N/A:L

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

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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 7 Jul 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 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
Huawei HarmonyOS	Affected =5.1.0 =5.0.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability effectively, European organizations should: 1) Monitor Huawei's official security advisories closely for patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-53176 and apply them promptly once available. 2) Restrict local access to HarmonyOS devices by enforcing strict physical security controls and limiting user privileges to the minimum necessary, reducing the chance of exploitation. 3) Implement application whitelisting and control mechanisms to prevent unauthorized or suspicious files from being opened or previewed, especially vector image files from untrusted sources. 4) Educate users about the risks of opening unknown or suspicious vector image files, even locally, to reduce inadvertent triggering of the vulnerability. 5) Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting abnormal application crashes or behaviors related to file preview functions. 6) Consider network segmentation to isolate HarmonyOS devices from critical infrastructure to minimize potential disruption. 7) Regularly back up critical data and system states to enable rapid recovery in case of denial of service or system instability caused by exploitation attempts.

Description

Stack overflow risk when vector images are parsed during file preview Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect the file preview function.

Impact

For European organizations using Huawei HarmonyOS devices, particularly those running versions 5.0.1 or 5.1.0, this vulnerability could lead to localized denial of service conditions. The impact is primarily on availability, as the file preview function could be disrupted, potentially causing application crashes or system instability. This could affect user experience and productivity, especially in environments where previewing vector images is common, such as design, engineering, or marketing departments. However, since the vulnerability requires local access and low privileges, the risk of remote exploitation is minimal. The lack of confidentiality or integrity impact reduces the risk of data breaches or unauthorized modifications. Nevertheless, organizations relying on HarmonyOS devices for critical operations should be aware of potential disruptions and plan accordingly. The absence of known exploits in the wild lowers immediate risk but does not eliminate the need for vigilance. Additionally, if attackers gain local access through other means, this vulnerability could be chained with other exploits to increase overall impact.

CWE-121Stack-based Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #14
A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function).
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
Architecture and Design
Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
Implementation
Implement and perform bounds checking on input.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

consumer.huawei.com/en/support/bulletin/2025/7/ (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 02:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-121

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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