CVE-2021-37662 Reference binding to nullptr in boosted trees in TensorFlow

High 7.1 Published Updated

An attacker can cause undefined behavior and potential crashes in TensorFlow's boosted trees implementation by triggering a reference binding to nullptr.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Any signed-in user
Attackable
Local or same network only
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
Available

What is CVE-2021-37662?

CVE-2021-37662 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Tensorflow, published on 12 Aug 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can generate undefined behavior via a reference binding to nullptr in `BoostedTreesCalculateBestGainsPerFeature` and similar attack can occur in `BoostedTreesCalculateBestFeatureSplitV2`. The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/84d053187cb80d975ef2b9684d4b61981bca0c41/tensorflow/core/kernels/boosted_trees/stats_ops.cc) does not validate the input values. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 9c87c32c710d0b5b53dc6fd3bfde4046e1f7a5ad and in commit 429f009d2b2c09028647dd4bb7b3f6f414bbaad7. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, TensorFlow 2.4.3, and TensorFlow 2.3.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.

Weakness: CWE-824

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-37662?

22 open source packages ship an affected version, including tensorflow, tensorflow-cpu and tensorflow-gpu. It affects 1 product.

PackageAffectedFixed in
tensorflow BitnamiFrom 2.3.02.3.4, 2.4.3, 2.5.1
tensorflow PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.3.02.3.4, 2.4.3
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
16 more packages
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1
tensorflow-cpu PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow-cpu PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.3.02.3.4, 2.4.3
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1
tensorflow-gpu PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow-gpu PyPIAll versions2.3.4
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.3.02.3.4, 2.4.3
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.4.02.4.3
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.1

Products include Google Tensorflow.

How do I fix CVE-2021-37662?

Upgrade tensorflow to a fixed version for your release line: 2.3.4, 2.4.3 or 2.5.1.

Is CVE-2021-37662 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-37662 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Google Tensorflow vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BIT-tensorflow-2021-37662, GHSA-f5cx-5wr3-5qrc, PYSEC-2021-284, PYSEC-2021-575, PYSEC-2021-773.

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