CVE-2021-41219 Undefined behavior via `nullptr` reference binding in sparse matrix multiplication
Attackers can trigger undefined behavior and potential heap out-of-bounds access in TensorFlow's sparse matrix multiplication by providing zero or negative dimensions.
- 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-2021-41219?
CVE-2021-41219 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 sparse matrix multiplication is vulnerable to undefined behavior via binding a reference to `nullptr`. This occurs whenever the dimensions of `a` or `b` are 0 or less. In the case on one of these is 0, an empty output tensor should be allocated (to conserve the invariant that output tensors are always allocated when the operation is successful) but nothing should be written to it (that is, we should return early from the kernel implementation). Otherwise, attempts to write to this empty tensor would result in heap OOB access. 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.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41219?
22 open source packages ship an affected version, including tensorflow, tensorflow-cpu and tensorflow-gpu. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
tensorflow Bitnami | All versions | 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1 |
tensorflow PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0 |
tensorflow PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
tensorflow PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
16 more packages
tensorflow PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
tensorflow PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
tensorflow-cpu PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.7.0 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | All versions | 2.4.4 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | From 2.5.0 | 2.5.2 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
tensorflow-gpu PyPI | From 2.6.0 | 2.6.1 |
Products include Google Tensorflow.
How do I fix CVE-2021-41219?
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-2021-41219 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41219 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Google Tensorflow
- CVE-2023-25668 TensorFlow vulnerable to heap out-of-buffer read in the QuantizeAndDequantize operation
- CVE-2018-7575 Integer Overflow or Wraparound in Google TensorFlow
- CVE-2021-37678 Arbitrary code execution due to YAML deserialization
- CVE-2021-35958 Path traversal in n/a
- CVE-2020-15202 Integer truncation in Shard API usage
Sources
Also known as BIT-tensorflow-2021-41219, GHSA-4f99-p9c2-3j8x, PYSEC-2021-411, PYSEC-2021-628, PYSEC-2021-826.