CVE-2025-58302 is a permission control vulnerability classified under CWE-264, found in the Settings module of Huawei's HarmonyOS. It affects a broad range of versions from 2.0.0 through 4.3.1. The vulnerability arises due to improper enforcement of permissions, allowing an attacker with local access to bypass privilege restrictions without requiring authentication or user interaction. This leads to the potential compromise of service confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The CVSS 3.1 score is 8.4 (High), with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating local attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction needed, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no known exploits are reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk if exploited, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges and manipulate system settings or services. The lack of available patches at the time of publication necessitates immediate attention to access controls and monitoring. Given Huawei's market penetration in mobile and IoT devices, the vulnerability could affect a wide user base, especially in environments where local device access is possible.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-58302 can be substantial. The vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges and compromise critical system services, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruptions, or unauthorized control over devices running HarmonyOS. This is particularly concerning for sectors such as telecommunications, government, critical infrastructure, and enterprises that deploy Huawei devices extensively. Confidentiality breaches could expose sensitive organizational data, while integrity and availability impacts could disrupt business operations or critical services. The local access requirement somewhat limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk in environments where physical or local network access is feasible, such as shared workspaces, public areas, or compromised internal networks. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate threat but does not preclude future exploitation, especially as threat actors develop proof-of-concept or weaponized code.

1. Monitor Huawei’s official security advisories and apply patches promptly once released for affected HarmonyOS versions. 2. Restrict local access to devices running HarmonyOS, including enforcing strong physical security controls and limiting user permissions. 3. Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of identifying unusual privilege escalation or settings modifications on HarmonyOS devices. 4. Conduct regular audits of device configurations and permissions to detect anomalies. 5. Educate users on the risks of local device access and enforce policies to prevent unauthorized physical or network access. 6. Where possible, isolate critical Huawei devices within segmented network zones to reduce lateral movement opportunities. 7. Employ application whitelisting and integrity verification mechanisms to detect unauthorized changes to system components. 8. Collaborate with Huawei support channels for guidance and early access to patches or mitigations.