CVE-2025-66321 identifies a race condition vulnerability classified under CWE-362 in the camera framework module of Huawei's HarmonyOS. This vulnerability stems from improper synchronization when multiple threads concurrently access shared resources within the camera subsystem. Such a race condition can lead to unpredictable behavior, including crashes or denial of service, thereby impacting system availability. The affected versions are HarmonyOS 5.0.1, 5.1.0, and 6.0.0. The vulnerability requires an attacker to have local access with high privileges (PR:H) and does not require user interaction (UI:N), limiting remote exploitation possibilities. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.1, indicating a medium severity primarily due to high impact on availability (A:H), low impact on integrity (I:L), and no impact on confidentiality (C:N). No public exploits have been reported to date, and no patches are currently linked, suggesting that mitigation depends on vendor updates and internal controls. The race condition could be exploited by malicious local users or processes to disrupt camera services, potentially affecting device usability and reliability. Given the critical role of camera functionality in many devices, this could have operational impacts, especially in environments relying on HarmonyOS devices for communication or surveillance.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-66321 is on the availability of devices running affected versions of HarmonyOS, particularly those relying on camera functionality for business operations, security, or communications. Disruption of camera services could impair video conferencing, security monitoring, or other camera-dependent applications. Although the vulnerability does not compromise confidentiality or integrity significantly, denial of service conditions could lead to operational downtime or degraded user experience. Organizations with Huawei devices used by employees or integrated into IoT environments may face increased risk. The requirement for high privilege local access reduces the likelihood of widespread exploitation but raises concerns for insider threats or compromised devices. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently limits immediate risk, but the medium severity score and potential availability impact warrant proactive mitigation. Failure to address this vulnerability could lead to service interruptions, impacting productivity and potentially causing reputational damage if critical services are affected.

1. Implement strict access controls to limit high-privilege local access on devices running affected HarmonyOS versions, reducing the risk of exploitation by unauthorized users or processes. 2. Monitor system logs and camera subsystem behavior for anomalies indicative of race condition exploitation or instability. 3. Segregate critical devices and sensitive environments to minimize exposure to potentially compromised local users or software. 4. Engage with Huawei for timely patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and plan for prompt deployment once available. 5. Employ application whitelisting and endpoint protection to prevent unauthorized code execution with elevated privileges. 6. Conduct regular security audits focusing on local privilege escalation vectors and race condition vulnerabilities within device software. 7. Educate users and administrators on the risks of granting high privileges and the importance of maintaining updated device software. 8. Where feasible, consider alternative devices or OS versions not affected by this vulnerability for critical use cases until patches are released.