AVID-2026-R0769

Description

Null pointer dereference in EditDistance (CVE-2021-29564)

Details

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a null pointer dereference in the implementation of tf.raw_ops.EditDistance. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/79865b542f9ffdc9caeb255631f7c56f1d4b6517/tensorflow/core/kernels/edit_distance_op.cc#L103-L159) has incomplete validation of the input parameters. 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-2021-29564 describes a null pointer dereference in TensorFlow’s tf.raw_ops.EditDistance, a vulnerability in a core ML framework. This affects the AI software stack and is a software supply-chain/dep issue for general-purpose AI systems, with CVE details and references provided.

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-476	CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference

Other information

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