AVID-2026-R0742

Description

CHECK-fail in SparseConcat (CVE-2021-29534)

Details

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 tf.raw_ops.SparseConcat. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/b432a38fe0e1b4b904a6c222cbce794c39703e87/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse_concat_op.cc#L76) takes the values specified in shapes[0] as dimensions for the output shape. The TensorShape constructor(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/6f9896890c4c703ae0a0845394086e2e1e523299/tensorflow/core/framework/tensor_shape.cc#L183-L188) uses a CHECK operation which triggers when InitDims(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/6f9896890c4c703ae0a0845394086e2e1e523299/tensorflow/core/framework/tensor_shape.cc#L212-L296) returns a non-OK status. This is a legacy implementation of the constructor and operations should use BuildTensorShapeBase or AddDimWithStatus to prevent CHECK-failures in the presence of overflows. 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.

Reason for inclusion in AVID: The candidate is CVE-2021-29534, a TensorFlow software vulnerability (CHECK-fail in SparseConcat) that can trigger a Denial of Service. It affects a foundational ML framework used to develop, train, and deploy AI systems. This is software supply-chain relevant, as it concerns a widely used dependency in AI pipelines. It is clearly an AI-related vulnerability with potential impact on AI software stacks, not hardware/firmware-only. The report provides explicit vulnerability behavior and references (CVE, advisory, commit), satisfying evidence requirements.

References

Affected or Relevant Artifacts

Developer: tensorflow
Deployer: tensorflow
Artifact Details:

Type	Name
System	tensorflow

Impact

AVID Taxonomy Categorization

Risk domains: Security
SEP subcategories: S0100: Software Vulnerability
Lifecycle stages: L06: Deployment

CVSS

Version	3.1
Vector String	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Base Score	2.5
Base Severity	🟢 Low
Attack Vector	LOCAL
Attack Complexity	🔴 High
Privileges Required	🟢 Low
User Interaction	NONE
Scope	UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact	NONE
Integrity Impact	NONE
Availability Impact	🟢 Low

CWE

ID	Description
CWE-754	CWE-754: Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions

Other information

Report Type: Advisory
Credits:
Date Reported: 2021-05-14
Version: 0.3.3
AVID Entry