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CVE-2021-29540

Heap buffer overflow in `Conv2DBackpropFilter`

2.5 LowFix available

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Exploit likelihood

0.21%Down 0.4 points since May 15, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 2.5

Heap buffer overflow in `Conv2DBackpropFilter`

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
CVE-2021-29540
CVSS 3.1
2.5 LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Weakness
CWE-120
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0281 2.5

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
EUVD-2021-0281
CVSS 3.1
2.5 LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xgc3-m89p-vr3x 2.0

Heap buffer overflow in `Conv2DBackpropFilter`

Impact

An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter:

import tensorflow as tf

input_tensor = tf.constant([386.078431372549, 386.07843139643234],
                           shape=[1, 1, 1, 2], dtype=tf.float32)
filter_sizes = tf.constant([1, 1, 1, 1], shape=[4], dtype=tf.int32)
out_backprop = tf.constant([386.078431372549], shape=[1, 1, 1, 1],
                           dtype=tf.float32)
  
tf.raw_ops.Conv2DBackpropFilter(
  input=input_tensor,
  filter_sizes=filter_sizes,
  out_backprop=out_backprop,
  strides=[1, 66, 49, 1],
  use_cudnn_on_gpu=True,
  padding='VALID',
  explicit_paddings=[],
  data_format='NHWC',
  dilations=[1, 1, 1, 1]
)

Alternatively, passing empty tensors also results in similar behavior:

import tensorflow as tf

input_tensor = tf.constant([], shape=[0, 1, 1, 5], dtype=tf.float32)
filter_sizes = tf.constant([3, 8, 1, 1], shape=[4], dtype=tf.int32)
out_backprop = tf.constant([], shape=[0, 1, 1, 1], dtype=tf.float32)

tf.raw_ops.Conv2DBackpropFilter(
  input=input_tensor,
  filter_sizes=filter_sizes, 
  out_backprop=out_backprop,
  strides=[1, 66, 49, 1], 
  use_cudnn_on_gpu=True,
  padding='VALID',
  explicit_paddings=[],
  data_format='NHWC',
  dilations=[1, 1, 1, 1]
)

This is because the implementation computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit c570e2ecfc822941335ad48f6e10df4e21f11c96.

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.

For more information

Please consult our security guide for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions.

Attribution

This vulnerability has been reported by Yakun Zhang and Ying Wang of Baidu X-Team.

Record
GHSA-xgc3-m89p-vr3x
CVSS 4.0
2.0 LowCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
2.5 LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Weakness
CWE-120, CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 2.5

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
CVE-2021-29540
CVSS 3.1
2.5 LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
4.6 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-120, CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.8

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
CVE-2021-29540
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-xgc3-m89p-vr3x 2.0

Heap buffer overflow in `Conv2DBackpropFilter`

Impact

An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter:

import tensorflow as tf

input_tensor = tf.constant([386.078431372549, 386.07843139643234],
                           shape=[1, 1, 1, 2], dtype=tf.float32)
filter_sizes = tf.constant([1, 1, 1, 1], shape=[4], dtype=tf.int32)
out_backprop = tf.constant([386.078431372549], shape=[1, 1, 1, 1],
                           dtype=tf.float32)
  
tf.raw_ops.Conv2DBackpropFilter(
  input=input_tensor,
  filter_sizes=filter_sizes,
  out_backprop=out_backprop,
  strides=[1, 66, 49, 1],
  use_cudnn_on_gpu=True,
  padding='VALID',
  explicit_paddings=[],
  data_format='NHWC',
  dilations=[1, 1, 1, 1]
)

Alternatively, passing empty tensors also results in similar behavior:

import tensorflow as tf

input_tensor = tf.constant([], shape=[0, 1, 1, 5], dtype=tf.float32)
filter_sizes = tf.constant([3, 8, 1, 1], shape=[4], dtype=tf.int32)
out_backprop = tf.constant([], shape=[0, 1, 1, 1], dtype=tf.float32)

tf.raw_ops.Conv2DBackpropFilter(
  input=input_tensor,
  filter_sizes=filter_sizes, 
  out_backprop=out_backprop,
  strides=[1, 66, 49, 1], 
  use_cudnn_on_gpu=True,
  padding='VALID',
  explicit_paddings=[],
  data_format='NHWC',
  dilations=[1, 1, 1, 1]
)

This is because the implementation computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit c570e2ecfc822941335ad48f6e10df4e21f11c96.

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.

For more information

Please consult our security guide for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions.

Attribution

This vulnerability has been reported by Yakun Zhang and Ying Wang of Baidu X-Team.

Record
GHSA-xgc3-m89p-vr3x
CVSS 4.0
2.0 LowCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
2.5 LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Weakness
CWE-120, CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVBIT-tensorflow-2021-29540 No score

Heap buffer overflow in `Conv2DBackpropFilter`

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
BIT-tensorflow-2021-29540
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-177 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
PYSEC-2021-177
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-468 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
PYSEC-2021-468
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-666 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can cause a heap buffer overflow to occur in Conv2DBackpropFilter. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/1b0296c3b8dd9bd948f924aa8cd62f87dbb7c3da/tensorflow/core/kernels/conv_grad_filter_ops.cc#L495-L497) computes the size of the filter tensor but does not validate that it matches the number of elements in filter_sizes. Later, when reading/writing to this buffer, code uses the value computed here, instead of the number of elements in the tensor. 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.

Record
PYSEC-2021-666
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
tensorflow
PyPI
before 2.1.4
2.1.4
tensorflow
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3
2.2.3
tensorflow
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3
2.3.3
tensorflow
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2
2.4.2
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
before 2.1.4
2.1.4
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3
2.2.3
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3
2.3.3
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2
2.4.2
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
before 2.1.4
2.1.4
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3
2.2.3
Show 18 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3
2.3.3
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2
2.4.2
tensorflow
Bitnami
before 2.1.4, 2.2.0 up to 2.2.3, 2.3.0 up to 2.3.3, 2.4.0 up to 2.4.2
2.1.42.2.32.3.32.4.2
tensorflow
PyPI
before 2.1.4, plus listed versions
0.12.00.12.11.0.01.0.11.1.0
Show 35 moreShow less
1.10.01.10.11.11.01.12.01.12.21.12.31.13.11.13.21.14.01.15.01.15.21.15.31.15.41.15.51.2.01.2.11.3.01.4.01.4.11.5.01.5.11.6.01.7.01.7.11.8.01.9.02.0.02.0.12.0.22.0.32.0.42.1.02.1.12.1.22.1.3
2.1.4
tensorflow
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3, plus listed versions
2.2.12.2.2
2.2.3
tensorflow
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3, plus listed versions
2.3.12.3.2
2.3.3
tensorflow
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2, plus listed versions
2.4.1
2.4.2
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
before 2.1.4, plus listed versions
1.15.02.1.02.1.12.1.22.1.3
2.1.4
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3, plus listed versions
2.2.12.2.2
2.2.3
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3, plus listed versions
2.3.12.3.2
2.3.3
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2, plus listed versions
2.4.1
2.4.2
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
before 2.1.4, plus listed versions
0.12.00.12.11.0.01.0.11.1.0
Show 35 moreShow less
1.10.01.10.11.11.01.12.01.12.21.12.31.13.11.13.21.14.01.15.01.15.21.15.31.15.41.15.51.2.01.2.11.3.01.4.01.4.11.5.01.5.11.6.01.7.01.7.11.8.01.9.02.0.02.0.12.0.22.0.32.0.42.1.02.1.12.1.22.1.3
2.1.4
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.2.0 up to 2.2.3, plus listed versions
2.2.12.2.2
2.2.3
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.3.0 up to 2.3.3, plus listed versions
2.3.12.3.2
2.3.3
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
2.4.0 up to 2.4.2, plus listed versions
2.4.1
2.4.2
tensorflow
PyPI
before 2.2.0rc0, 2.2.0 up to 2.3.0rc0, 2.3.0 up to 2.3.4, 2.4.0 up to 2.4.3, plus listed versions
0.12.00.12.0rc00.12.0rc10.12.11.0.0
Show 45 moreShow less
1.0.11.1.01.1.0rc01.1.0rc11.1.0rc21.10.01.10.0rc01.10.0rc11.10.11.11.01.11.0rc01.11.0rc11.11.0rc21.12.01.12.0rc01.12.0rc11.12.0rc21.12.21.12.31.13.0rc01.13.0rc11.13.0rc21.13.11.13.21.14.01.14.0rc01.14.0rc11.15.01.15.0rc01.15.0rc11.15.0rc21.15.0rc31.15.21.15.31.15.41.15.51.2.01.2.0rc01.2.0rc11.2.0rc21.2.11.3.01.3.0rc01.3.0rc11.3.0rc2
2.2.0rc02.3.0rc02.3.42.4.3
tensorflow-cpu
PyPI
before 2.2.0rc0, 2.2.0 up to 2.3.0rc0, 2.3.0 up to 2.3.4, 2.4.0 up to 2.4.3, plus listed versions
1.15.02.1.02.1.12.1.22.1.3
Show 9 moreShow less
2.1.42.2.12.2.22.2.32.3.12.3.22.3.32.4.12.4.2
2.2.0rc02.3.0rc02.3.42.4.3
tensorflow-gpu
PyPI
before 2.2.0rc0, 2.2.0 up to 2.3.0rc0, 2.3.0 up to 2.3.4, 2.4.0 up to 2.4.3, plus listed versions
0.12.00.12.11.0.01.0.11.1.0
Show 44 moreShow less
1.10.01.10.11.11.01.12.01.12.21.12.31.13.11.13.21.14.01.15.01.15.21.15.31.15.41.15.51.2.01.2.11.3.01.4.01.4.11.5.01.5.11.6.01.7.01.7.11.8.01.9.02.0.02.0.12.0.22.0.32.0.42.1.02.1.12.1.22.1.32.1.42.2.12.2.22.2.32.3.12.3.22.3.32.4.12.4.2
2.2.0rc02.3.0rc02.3.42.4.3

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2021-29540 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 2.5) in Google Tensorflow, published May 14, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.21%, the 12th percentile. Fixed in tensorflow 2.1.4.

References

This page doesn't list everything

Left out here: 49 versions. The JSON record has them.

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