CVE-2024-8994

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-8994 is an information leak vulnerability affecting unspecified Honor products. With a CVSS score of 6.2 (Medium severity), successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information. The vulnerability currently has no known public exploit, no patch available, and a very low EPSS score (0.0%), indicating low exploitation activity in the wild. The exact attack vector and vulnerable components remain undisclosed by the vendor.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.2 (Medium)
• Attack Vector: Local (AV:L) – requires local access to the device
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – no special conditions needed
• Privileges Required: Low (PR:L) – attacker needs basic user privileges
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – no user action required
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – impact confined to vulnerable component
• Confidentiality Impact: High (C:H) – potential full information disclosure
• Integrity Impact: None (I:N) – no data modification
• Availability Impact: None (A:N) – no service disruption

Threat Level: Medium. The vulnerability requires local access, limiting remote exploitation. However, if combined with other attack vectors (e.g., malicious app installation), it could lead to significant data leakage.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in Honor’s software stack, likely in a system service or application that improperly handles sensitive data. The information leak could manifest through:

• Insecure storage of credentials or tokens in world-readable files or logs.
• Improper permission checks allowing low-privileged processes to access protected data.
• Memory disclosure via debugging interfaces or core dumps.

Without specific technical details from Honor, the exact mechanism remains speculative. The vulnerability is likely triggered by a local attacker with basic user privileges (e.g., via a malicious app) reading files or IPC channels that should be restricted.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

No patch or code comparison is available. The vendor has not released a security update or disclosed the affected components. Organizations should monitor Honor’s security advisories for future patches.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Since no public exploit exists, red teamers can simulate the vulnerability by:

1. Setting up a test environment: Use an Honor device (e.g., Honor 90, Magic series) with stock firmware.
2. Identifying potential leak points: Scan for world-readable files in /data/, /system/, or app-specific directories.
3. Testing permission bypass: Attempt to read protected files using a low-privileged app or ADB shell.
4. Monitoring logs: Check for sensitive data in logcat output.

Example simulation script (bash):

#!/bin/bash
# Simulate information leak by checking common sensitive files
for file in /data/system/packages.xml /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf /data/system/users/0/accounts.db; do
    if [ -r "$file" ]; then
        echo "Leak: $file is readable"
        head -c 200 "$file"
    fi
done

Blue Team

Defenders should:

1. Monitor for unusual file access patterns using auditd or SELinux alerts.
2. Restrict app permissions via Android’s permission model.
3. Enable full-disk encryption to mitigate physical access risks.
4. Deploy EDR solutions on managed devices to detect privilege escalation attempts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File paths: /data/system/packages.xml, /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf, /data/system/users/0/accounts.db
• Process names: system_server, logd, installd
• Log patterns: "Read from protected file", "Permission denied" followed by successful access
• Network connections: Unusual outbound connections from system apps (if data exfiltrated)

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_8994_InfoLeak {
    meta:
        description = "Detects potential information leak from Honor devices"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2024-8994"
    strings:
        $sensitive1 = "/data/system/packages.xml"
        $sensitive2 = "/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf"
        $sensitive3 = "/data/system/users/0/accounts.db"
        $log_pattern = "Read from protected file"
    condition:
        any of ($sensitive*) or $log_pattern
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-8994 Information Leak Detection
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects attempts to read sensitive files on Honor devices
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    product: linux
    service: auditd
detection:
    selection:
        type: 'PATH'
        key:
            - '/data/system/packages.xml'
            - '/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf'
            - '/data/system/users/0/accounts.db'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate system maintenance
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2024-8994 Potential Data Exfiltration"; content:"|2f 64 61 74 61 2f 73 79 73 74 65 6d 2f 70 61 63 6b 61 67 65 73 2e 78 6d 6c|"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

• Immediate: Restrict local access to Honor devices; disable USB debugging and ADB when not needed.
• Short-term: Apply Honor’s security patch when released; monitor vendor advisories.
• Long-term: Implement least-privilege principles; use Android Enterprise for managed devices.
• Workaround: If no patch is available, consider using third-party security apps to audit file permissions.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers