Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`
Priority LOW 24CWE-131Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-131 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a `CHECK`-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at `indices(i, 0)` is such that `indices(i, 0) + 1` is outside the bounds of `csr_row_ptr`, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.5.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.4.2, TensorFlow 2.3.3, TensorFlow 2.2.3 and TensorFlow 2.1.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.00189 8th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed tensorflow (tensorflow): 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3 +1tensorflow (PyPI): 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3 +1+2 more products
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tensorflow | before 2.1.4; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3; 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 | 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.4.2 | Patch available | CNA | |
| — | tensorflow (PyPI) | before 2.1.4 | 2.1.4 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow (PyPI) | 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 | 2.2.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow (PyPI) | 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 | 2.3.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow (PyPI) | 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 | 2.4.2 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) | before 2.1.4 | 2.1.4 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) | 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 | 2.2.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) | 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 | 2.3.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) | 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 | 2.4.2 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) | before 2.1.4 | 2.1.4 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) | 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 | 2.2.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) | 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 | 2.3.3 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
| — | tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) | 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 | 2.4.2 | Patch available | GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm |
- tensorflow VendorGoogle Affected before 2.1.4; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3; 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 Fixed in 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.4.2 Patch available CNA
- tensorflow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 2.1.4 Fixed in 2.1.4 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 Fixed in 2.2.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 Fixed in 2.3.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 Fixed in 2.4.2 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 2.1.4 Fixed in 2.1.4 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 Fixed in 2.2.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 Fixed in 2.3.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 Fixed in 2.4.2 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 2.1.4 Fixed in 2.1.4 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3 Fixed in 2.2.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3 Fixed in 2.3.3 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Vendor— Affected 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 Fixed in 2.4.2 Patch available GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 2.1.4; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3; 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 | Vulnerable |
- cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 2.1.4; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.3; 2.4.0 to before 2.4.2 Vulnerable ·Google
Remediation
- Fix · CNA tensorflow (tensorflow) Fixed in 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.4.2
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow (PyPI) Fixed in 2.1.4 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow (PyPI) Fixed in 2.2.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow (PyPI) Fixed in 2.3.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow (PyPI) Fixed in 2.4.2 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.1.4 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.2.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.3.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.4.2 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.1.4 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.2.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.3.3 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) Fixed in 2.4.2 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-29545
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
References
Other 4
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-cpu/PYSEC-2021-473.yaml
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-gpu/PYSEC-2021-671.yaml
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow/PYSEC-2021-182.yaml
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow
More Google Tensorflow vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-20241 FractionalMaxPool and FractionalAVGPool heap out-of-bounds acess in Tensorflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-07640 Integer overflow in Tensorflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-07627 Out of bounds read and write in Tensorflow CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-07619 Out of bounds write in Tensorflow CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-07613 Read and Write outside of bounds in TFLite CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-07612 Integer overflow in TFLite CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2021-29545 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-29545 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences