CVE-2021-41208 Incomplete validation in boosted trees code

High 8.8 Published Updated

Attackers can cause denial of service and read/write heap memory via null pointer dereferences in TensorFlow's boosted trees implementation.

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-2021-41208?

CVE-2021-41208 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Tensorflow, published on 5 Nov 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

TensorFlow is an open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions the code for boosted trees in TensorFlow is still missing validation. As a result, attackers can trigger denial of service (via dereferencing `nullptr`s or via `CHECK`-failures) as well as abuse undefined behavior (binding references to `nullptr`s). An attacker can also read and write from heap buffers, depending on the API that gets used and the arguments that are passed to the call. Given that the boosted trees implementation in TensorFlow is unmaintained, it is recommend to no longer use these APIs. We will deprecate TensorFlow's boosted trees APIs in subsequent releases. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.7.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.6.1, TensorFlow 2.5.2, and TensorFlow 2.4.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.

Weakness: CWE-824, CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41208?

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

PackageAffectedFixed in
tensorflow BitnamiFrom 2.4.02.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1
tensorflow PyPIAll versions2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0
tensorflow PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
16 more packages
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1
tensorflow PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1
tensorflow-cpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0
tensorflow-cpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow-cpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1
tensorflow-cpu PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1
tensorflow-gpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0
tensorflow-gpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow-gpu PyPIAll versions2.4.4
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.5.02.5.2
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1
tensorflow-gpu PyPIFrom 2.6.02.6.1

Products include Google Tensorflow.

How do I fix CVE-2021-41208?

Upgrade tensorflow to a fixed version for your release line: 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1 or 2.7.0.

Is CVE-2021-41208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Google Tensorflow vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BIT-tensorflow-2021-41208, GHSA-57wx-m983-2f88, PYSEC-2021-400, PYSEC-2021-617, PYSEC-2021-815.

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