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CVE-2021-29545

Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`

2.5 LowFix available

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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

0.19%Down 0.6 points since May 15, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 2.5

Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-29545
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-131
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0286 2.5

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-0286
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-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm 2.0

Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`

Impact

An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices:

import tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np
from tensorflow.python.ops.linalg.sparse import sparse_csr_matrix_ops

indices_array = np.array([[0, 0]])
value_array = np.array([0.0], dtype=np.float32)
dense_shape = [0, 0]

st = tf.SparseTensor(indices_array, value_array, dense_shape)

values_tensor = sparse_csr_matrix_ops.sparse_tensor_to_csr_sparse_matrix(
       st.indices, st.values, st.dense_shape)

This is because the implementation does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap:

csr_row_ptr(indices(i, 0) + 1) += 1;

If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 1e922ccdf6bf46a3a52641f99fd47d54c1decd13.

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-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
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-131
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 2.5

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-29545
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
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
2.1 LowAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Weakness
CWE-131
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.5

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-29545
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm 2.0

Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`

Impact

An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices:

import tensorflow as tf
import numpy as np
from tensorflow.python.ops.linalg.sparse import sparse_csr_matrix_ops

indices_array = np.array([[0, 0]])
value_array = np.array([0.0], dtype=np.float32)
dense_shape = [0, 0]

st = tf.SparseTensor(indices_array, value_array, dense_shape)

values_tensor = sparse_csr_matrix_ops.sparse_tensor_to_csr_sparse_matrix(
       st.indices, st.values, st.dense_shape)

This is because the implementation does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap:

csr_row_ptr(indices(i, 0) + 1) += 1;

If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 1e922ccdf6bf46a3a52641f99fd47d54c1decd13.

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-hmg3-c7xj-6qwm
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-131
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVBIT-tensorflow-2021-29545 No score

Heap buffer overflow in `SparseTensorToCSRSparseMatrix`

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-29545
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-182 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-182
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-473 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-473
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-671 No score

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a denial of service via a CHECK-fail in converting sparse tensors to CSR Sparse matrices. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/800346f2c03a27e182dd4fba48295f65e7790739/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/kernels.cc#L66) does a double redirection to access an element of an array allocated on the heap. If the value at indices(i, 0) is such that indices(i, 0) + 1 is outside the bounds of csr_row_ptr, this results in writing outside of bounds of heap allocated data. 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-2021-671
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-2021-29545 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 0.19%, the 8th percentile. Fixed in tensorflow 2.1.4.

References

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

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