CVE-2025-27128: OpenHarmony Use-After-Free Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27128 Overview

CVE-2025-27128 is a use-after-free vulnerability affecting OpenHarmony v5.0.3 and prior versions. The flaw resides in the Trusted Computing Base (TCB) and allows a local attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-416: Use After Free and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8.

Exploitation requires local access and low privileges, but no user interaction. Successful exploitation compromises confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected device. Because the flaw exists inside the TCB, exploitation can undermine the trust boundary the operating system relies on for security-sensitive operations.

Critical Impact
A local attacker with low privileges can execute arbitrary code in the OpenHarmony Trusted Computing Base, breaking the platform's core security boundary.

Affected Products

OpenAtom OpenHarmony v5.0.3
OpenAtom OpenHarmony prior versions (v5.x branch)
Devices and downstream distributions built on affected OpenHarmony releases

Discovery Timeline

2025-08-11 - CVE-2025-27128 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27128

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a use-after-free condition ([CWE-416]) inside the OpenHarmony Trusted Computing Base. Use-after-free flaws occur when a program continues to reference memory after it has been released back to the allocator. An attacker who controls the timing and contents of a subsequent allocation can reoccupy the freed region and steer program execution.

Because the flawed code path executes within the TCB, successful exploitation runs code inside a component trusted by the rest of the operating system. This effectively neutralizes the isolation guarantees the TCB is intended to provide. The attack vector is local, meaning an adversary must already have code execution on the device, but only low privileges are required.

The result is full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected device, consistent with the CVSS impact metrics.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper lifetime management of a heap object referenced by TCB code. After the object is freed, a dangling pointer remains reachable and is later dereferenced. Attackers can groom the heap to place attacker-controlled data at the freed address before the stale pointer is used.

Attack Vector

The attack requires local access to the device and low-privileged code execution, for example through an installed application. The attacker triggers the vulnerable code path in the TCB, races or shapes the heap to occupy the freed allocation, and then causes the stale reference to be used. See the OpenHarmony Security Disclosure for vendor-provided technical context.

No public proof-of-concept exploit has been published, and the flaw is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27128

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected crashes, kernel panics, or restarts of TCB-related services on OpenHarmony devices running v5.0.3 or earlier.
Local processes with low privileges spawning children or performing operations that require elevated trust.
Anomalous memory access patterns or segmentation faults logged by the TCB or associated system services.

Detection Strategies

Audit installed applications and packages on OpenHarmony devices for unsigned or unexpected binaries that could serve as a local foothold.
Correlate device telemetry to identify processes triggering repeated crashes in TCB components, which can indicate exploit development or heap grooming attempts.
Compare running OpenHarmony build identifiers against the fixed versions listed in the vendor advisory to identify unpatched devices.

Monitoring Recommendations

Forward device logs, crash dumps, and application install events to a centralized analytics pipeline for baseline and anomaly analysis.
Alert on new local privilege boundary violations and on repeated abnormal terminations of trusted system components.
Track advisory pages such as the OpenHarmony Security Disclosure for updated indicators and patch metadata.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27128

Immediate Actions Required

Inventory all OpenHarmony deployments and identify devices running v5.0.3 or earlier.
Apply the fixes referenced in the OpenHarmony Security Disclosure as soon as a compatible build is available from the device vendor.
Restrict application installation on affected devices to signed, trusted sources to reduce the local attack surface.

Patch Information

OpenAtom published fixes through the OpenHarmony security disclosure process. Refer to the OpenHarmony Security Disclosure for the specific commits, affected components, and versions that contain the fix. Downstream device manufacturers must integrate the upstream fixes into their firmware builds.

Workarounds

Limit which users and applications can execute code on affected devices until firmware updates are deployed.
Disable or remove non-essential third-party applications that could be leveraged to trigger the vulnerable TCB code path.
Enforce application allow-listing and code-signing policies where the device platform supports them.

bash

# Example: verify OpenHarmony version on a device before and after patching
hdc shell param get const.ohos.fullname
hdc shell param get const.ohos.releasetype