CVE-2025-54614 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in Huawei's HarmonyOS, specifically affecting versions 5.1.0 and 5.0.1. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-20, which pertains to improper input validation. The flaw resides in the home screen module of HarmonyOS, where insufficient verification of input data can be exploited. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.2, indicating a medium level of severity. The vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H reveals that the attack requires local access (AV:L), has low attack complexity (AC:L), does not require privileges (PR:N) or user interaction (UI:N), and impacts availability (A:H) without affecting confidentiality or integrity. Successful exploitation could lead to denial of service or other availability disruptions on devices running the affected versions of HarmonyOS. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches have been linked yet, suggesting that mitigation may rely on vendor updates or configuration changes once available. The vulnerability's local attack vector implies that an attacker must have some form of local access to the device, such as physical access or through another compromised local application, to trigger the improper input validation flaw in the home screen module. This limits the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where devices are shared or exposed to untrusted users or applications.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-54614 primarily concerns the availability of devices running Huawei HarmonyOS, particularly those using versions 5.0.1 and 5.1.0. Organizations that deploy HarmonyOS devices in operational environments—such as mobile phones, IoT devices, or embedded systems—may face service disruptions if the vulnerability is exploited. This could affect business continuity, especially in sectors relying on mobile or embedded Huawei devices for critical operations. Since the vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or integrity, data breaches or unauthorized data manipulation are not direct concerns. However, availability issues could lead to operational delays, reduced productivity, or loss of service in customer-facing applications. The requirement for local access reduces the likelihood of remote exploitation but does not eliminate insider threats or risks from compromised local applications. European organizations with Huawei device deployments should be aware of this vulnerability as part of their risk management and incident response planning.

Given the local attack vector and the nature of the vulnerability, mitigation should focus on minimizing local attack opportunities and preparing for vendor patches. Specific recommendations include: 1) Restrict physical and local access to devices running affected HarmonyOS versions, especially in sensitive or high-security environments. 2) Implement strict application whitelisting and sandboxing to prevent untrusted or malicious local applications from interacting with the home screen module or injecting malformed input. 3) Monitor device behavior for signs of denial of service or abnormal availability issues that could indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Maintain up-to-date inventories of HarmonyOS devices and versions deployed within the organization to prioritize patching once Huawei releases updates. 5) Engage with Huawei support channels to obtain timely security patches or workarounds. 6) Educate users and administrators about the risks of local exploitation and enforce policies limiting device sharing or unauthorized access. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling local access vectors and preparing for vendor remediation.