CVE-2022-43451 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

OpenHarmony-v3.1.2 and prior versions contain a severe vulnerability in the appspawn and nwebspawn services, allowing local attackers to create arbitrary directories or escape application sandbox. This could lead to an unprivileged process gaining full root privileges if combined with other vulnerabilities.

Understanding CVE-2022-43451

This CVE involves a multiple path traversal vulnerability in critical OpenHarmony services, posing a significant risk to system integrity and confidentiality.

What is CVE-2022-43451?

OpenHarmony-v3.1.2 and earlier versions are affected by a multiple path traversal vulnerability in the appspawn and nwebspawn services. The exploit could permit local attackers to manipulate directories and bypass application restrictions, potentially escalating privileges to gain complete control over the system.

The Impact of CVE-2022-43451

The vulnerability, categorized under CAPEC-115 (Authentication Bypass), carries a base score of 8.4 (High Severity) on the CVSS scale. It poses severe risks to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with a low attack complexity but high potential impact.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-43451

The technical details of CVE-2022-43451 shed light on the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, as well as the exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

The flaw in OpenHarmony-v3.1.2 and prior versions allows attackers to perform multiple path traversals through appspawn and nwebspawn services, compromising the application sandbox and escalating privileges.

Affected Systems and Versions

OpenHarmony versions up to 3.1.2 are affected by this vulnerability, putting systems running these versions at risk of exploitation.

Exploitation Mechanism

Local attackers can leverage this vulnerability to manipulate directories and break out of the application sandbox, potentially chaining it with other vulnerabilities to gain full root privileges.

Mitigation and Prevention

Understanding how to mitigate and prevent CVE-2022-43451 is crucial to safeguard systems against potential exploits.

Immediate Steps to Take

It is recommended to apply the latest patches released by OpenHarmony to address this vulnerability promptly. Additionally, limit access to vulnerable services and monitor for any suspicious activities.

Long-Term Security Practices

In the long term, organizations should prioritize security training for personnel, conduct regular security assessments, and implement defense-in-depth strategies to mitigate such vulnerabilities effectively.

Patching and Updates

Regularly check for security updates and patches from OpenHarmony to ensure that systems are protected against known vulnerabilities and exploit vectors.