AVID-2026-R0746

Description

Division by zero in Conv2DBackpropFilter (CVE-2021-29538)

Details

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a division by zero to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L513-L522) computes a divisor based on user provided data (i.e., the shape of the tensors given as arguments). If all shapes are empty then work_unit_size is 0. Since there is no check for this case before division, this results in a runtime exception, with potential to be abused for a denial of service. 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: CVE-2021-29538 describes a division-by-zero vulnerability in TensorFlow’s Conv2DBackpropFilter, potentially causing a denial-of-service. TensorFlow is a core ML framework; this affects software used to build/train/deploy AI systems, i.e., the AI software supply chain. The issue is a software vulnerability with CVE details and fixes in later releases, impacting ML pipelines and dependencies.

References

• NVD entry
• https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/c570e2ecfc822941335ad48f6e10df4e21f11c96
• https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-j8qc-5fqr-52fp

Affected or Relevant Artifacts

• Developer: tensorflow
• Deployer: tensorflow
• Artifact Details:

Impact

AVID Taxonomy Categorization

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

CVSS

CWE

Other information

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