VulnerabilityPublished 5 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-28542: Huawei HarmonyOS · Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

Affects Huawei HarmonyOSSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.3High

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

EPSS: 0.08% 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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: Low
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: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on 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 5 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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
HuaweiHarmonyOS	Affected =4.2.0 =4.0.0 =3.1.0	Fixed in–
HuaweiEMUI	Affected =14.2.0 =14.0.0 =13.0.0	Fixed in–
Huaweihuawei/harmonyos`pkg:deb/huawei/harmonyos`Other threats	Affected =3.1.0 =4.0.0 =4.2.0	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Until official patches are released, organizations should enforce strict local access controls to prevent unauthorized users from gaining physical or local network access to HarmonyOS devices. Implement device-level authentication mechanisms and monitor system service logs for unusual permission escalations or failures. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools capable of identifying anomalous behavior related to system services. Limit the installation of untrusted applications and disable unnecessary system services to reduce the attack surface. Prepare for rapid deployment of vendor patches by maintaining an up-to-date inventory of affected devices and establishing a patch management process. Conduct security awareness training to inform users about the risks of local access attacks. Network segmentation can help isolate vulnerable devices from critical infrastructure. Engage with Huawei support channels to obtain timely updates and guidance. Finally, consider deploying additional endpoint security controls that can detect or block attempts to exploit permission bypass vulnerabilities.

Description

Permission bypass vulnerability in the system service framework. Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect availability.

Impact

The vulnerability could lead to unauthorized permission bypass, allowing attackers with local access to interfere with system services, potentially causing denial-of-service conditions or unauthorized data exposure. This impacts the confidentiality and availability of affected devices, disrupting normal operations and possibly leading to system instability. Organizations relying on HarmonyOS for critical communications, IoT deployments, or mobile operations could face operational disruptions, data breaches, or service outages. The local access requirement limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk in environments where physical or local network access is possible, such as enterprise settings or shared device scenarios. The high confidentiality impact indicates potential exposure of sensitive information, while availability impact could affect device usability. The vulnerability may also undermine trust in Huawei's system security, affecting business continuity and user confidence.

CWE-755Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A10:2025: Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions (opens in a new tab)
The product does not handle or incorrectly handles an exceptional condition.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 5 Mar 2026, 08:49 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-755

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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