AVID-2026-R0772

Description

Lack of validation in SparseDenseCwiseMul (CVE-2021-29567)

Details

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Due to lack of validation in tf.raw_ops.SparseDenseCwiseMul, an attacker can trigger denial of service via CHECK-fails or accesses to outside the bounds of heap allocated data. Since the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/38178a2f7a681a7835bb0912702a134bfe3b4d84/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse_dense_binary_op_shared.cc#L68-L80) only validates the rank of the input arguments but no constraints between dimensions(https://www.tensorflow.org/api_docs/python/tf/raw_ops/SparseDenseCwiseMul), an attacker can abuse them to trigger internal CHECK assertions (and cause program termination, denial of service) or to write to memory outside of bounds of heap allocated tensor buffers. 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-2021-29567 describes a vulnerability in TensorFlow’s SparseDenseCwiseMul that can trigger denial of service or memory corruption due to insufficient input dimension validation. This is a software vulnerability in a widely-used AI framework, affecting components used to build/train/deploy AI systems. The issue directly pertains to the AI software stack and the supply chain of general-purpose AI systems, with clear evidence in the CVE/NVD entry and advisory, including affected versions and a fix.

References

• NVD entry
• https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-wp3c-xw9g-gpcg
• https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/7ae2af34087fb4b5c8915279efd03da3b81028bc

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