AVID-2026-R0800

Description

Heap OOB and null pointer dereference in RaggedTensorToTensor (CVE-2021-29608)

Details

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Due to lack of validation in tf.raw_ops.RaggedTensorToTensor, an attacker can exploit an undefined behavior if input arguments are empty. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/656e7673b14acd7835dc778867f84916c6d1cac2/tensorflow/core/kernels/ragged_tensor_to_tensor_op.cc#L356-L360) only checks that one of the tensors is not empty, but does not check for the other ones. There are multiple DCHECK validations to prevent heap OOB, but these are no-op in release builds, hence they don’t prevent anything. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.5.0. We will also cherrypick these commits 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-2021-29608 describes a heap out-of-bounds and null pointer dereference in TensorFlow’s RaggedTensorToTensor op, a vulnerability in a core ML framework relevant to AI software stacks. It affects the TensorFlow package used to build/train/deploy AI systems, making it a software supply-chain issue for general-purpose AI systems. It’s a CVE with defined exploitation potential and impact (availability impact, potential memory safety issues), satisfying security/safety vulnerability criteria. The report provides explicit details, affected component, and references, supporting classification as a security vulnerability in the AI software supply chain.

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:L/A:H
Base Score	5.3
Base Severity	🟠 Medium
Attack Vector	LOCAL
Attack Complexity	🔴 High
Privileges Required	🟢 Low
User Interaction	NONE
Scope	UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact	NONE
Integrity Impact	🟢 Low
Availability Impact	🔴 High

CWE

ID	Description
CWE-131	CWE-131: Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size

Other information

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