CVE-2021-37659

critical
Published 2021-08-25 · Modified 2023-12-06
CVSS v3
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:H
CVSS v2
VIR risk
9.5

Description

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can cause undefined behavior via binding a reference to null pointer in all binary cwise operations that don't require broadcasting (e.g., gradients of binary cwise operations). The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/84d053187cb80d975ef2b9684d4b61981bca0c41/tensorflow/core/kernels/cwise_ops_common.h#L264) assumes that the two inputs have exactly the same number of elements but does not check that. Hence, when the eigen functor executes it triggers heap OOB reads and undefined behavior due to binding to nullptr. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 93f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, TensorFlow 2.4.3, and TensorFlow 2.3.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood
20%
Patch ETA

Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

vendor Authored 2026-05-27

Vendor advisory: debian — https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-37659

OS impact

OSVersionStatusFixed in
arch archfixed2.5.1-1
debian debianforkyfixed0
debian debiansidfixed0

Package impact

EcosystemPackageVulnerableFixed
python PyPItensorflow<2.3.42.3.4
python PyPItensorflow>=2.4.0,<2.4.32.4.3
python PyPItensorflow>=2.5.0,<2.5.12.5.1
python PyPItensorflow-cpu<2.3.42.3.4
python PyPItensorflow-cpu>=2.4.0,<2.4.32.4.3
python PyPItensorflow-cpu>=2.5.0,<2.5.12.5.1
python PyPItensorflow-gpu<2.3.42.3.4
python PyPItensorflow-gpu>=2.4.0,<2.4.32.4.3
python PyPItensorflow-gpu>=2.5.0,<2.5.12.5.1
python PyPItensorflow<93f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec||>=2.4.0,<2.4.393f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec
python PyPItensorflow-cpu<93f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec||>=2.4.0,<2.4.393f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec
python PyPItensorflow-gpu<93f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec||>=2.4.0,<2.4.393f428fd1768df147171ed674fee1fc5ab8309ec

References

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.