# CVE-2022-38980: Memory corruption in HarmonyOS

> Heap overflow in HwAirlink allows attackers to gain process control permissions on HarmonyOS devices.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 15 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7w2j-qmxj-j7jq

## What is CVE-2022-38980?

CVE-2022-38980 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Huawei Harmonyos, published on 14 Oct 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The HwAirlink module has a heap overflow vulnerability in processing data packets of the proprietary protocol.Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow attackers to obtain process control permissions.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-38980?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Huawei Harmonyos.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-38980?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-38980 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-38980 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-38980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Huawei Harmonyos

- [CVE-2026-34865](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-34865/): Memory corruption in HarmonyOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-34157](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-34157/): Other in HarmonyOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-41294](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-41294/): Denial of service in HarmonyOS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-48478](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48478/): Denial of service in HarmonyOS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-48479](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48479/): Memory corruption in HarmonyOS (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-38980 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-38980 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Huawei Harmonyos, published on 14 Oct 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-38980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Huawei Harmonyos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-38980/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-38980/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-38980
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-38980
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-38980

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-38980/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.