Incomplete validation of shapes in multiple TF ops
High7.0CVE-2021-41206 · Published Nov 10, 2021 · updated Jul 8, 2026
### Impact Several TensorFlow operations are missing validation for the shapes of the tensor arguments involved in the call. Depending on the API, this can result in undefined behavior and segfault or `CHECK`-fail related crashes but in some scenarios writes and reads from heap populated arrays are also possible. We have discovered these issues internally via tooling while working on improving/testing GPU op determinism. As such, we don't have reproducers and there will be multiple fixes for these issues. ### Patches We have patched the issue in GitHub commits [68422b215e618df5ad375bcdc6d2052e9fd3080a](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/68422b215e618df5ad375bcdc6d2052e9fd3080a), [4d74d8a00b07441cba090a02e0dd9ed385145bf4](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4d74d8a00b07441cba090a02e0dd9ed385145bf4), [579261dcd446385831fe4f7457d802a59685121d](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/579261dcd446385831fe4f7457d802a59685121d), [da4aad5946be30e5f049920fa076e1f7ef021261](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/da4aad5946be30e5f049920fa076e1f7ef021261), [4dddb2fd0b01cdd196101afbba6518658a2c9e07](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4ddd...
Affected versions
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| tensorflow PyPI | >= 2.6.0, < 2.6.1 | 2.6.1 |
| >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.2 | 2.5.2 | |
| < 2.4.4 | 2.4.4 |
Details and references
### Impact Several TensorFlow operations are missing validation for the shapes of the tensor arguments involved in the call. Depending on the API, this can result in undefined behavior and segfault or `CHECK`-fail related crashes but in some scenarios writes and reads from heap populated arrays are also possible. We have discovered these issues internally via tooling while working on improving/testing GPU op determinism. As such, we don't have reproducers and there will be multiple fixes for these issues. ### Patches We have patched the issue in GitHub commits [68422b215e618df5ad375bcdc6d2052e9fd3080a](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/68422b215e618df5ad375bcdc6d2052e9fd3080a), [4d74d8a00b07441cba090a02e0dd9ed385145bf4](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4d74d8a00b07441cba090a02e0dd9ed385145bf4), [579261dcd446385831fe4f7457d802a59685121d](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/579261dcd446385831fe4f7457d802a59685121d), [da4aad5946be30e5f049920fa076e1f7ef021261](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/da4aad5946be30e5f049920fa076e1f7ef021261), [4dddb2fd0b01cdd196101afbba6518658a2c9e07](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4dddb2fd0b01cdd196101afbba6518658a2c9e07), and [e7f497570abb6b4ae5af4970620cd880e4c0c904](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/e7f497570abb6b4ae5af4970620cd880e4c0c904). These fixes will be included in TensorFlow 2.7.0. We will also cherrypick these commits on TensorFlow 2.6.1, TensorFlow 2.5.2, and TensorFlow 2.4.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range. ### For more information Please consult [our security guide](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/master/SECURITY.md) for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions.
- CVSS 3.1
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Severity from
- GitHub (reviewed advisory)
- Weakness
- CWE-354
- Also known as
- BIT-tensorflow-2021-41206, CVE-2021-41206, PYSEC-2021-843, PYSEC-2021-845, PYSEC-2021-847
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-pgcq-h79j-2f69
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41206
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4d74d8a00b07441cba090a02e0dd9ed385145bf4
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/4dddb2fd0b01cdd196101afbba6518658a2c9e07
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/579261dcd446385831fe4f7457d802a59685121d
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/68422b215e618df5ad375bcdc6d2052e9fd3080a
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/da4aad5946be30e5f049920fa076e1f7ef021261
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/e7f497570abb6b4ae5af4970620cd880e4c0c904
- github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-cpu/PYSEC-2021-845.yaml
- github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-gpu/PYSEC-2021-847.yaml
- github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow/PYSEC-2021-843.yaml
- github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow
More TensorFlow advisories
All TensorFlow| Date | Advisory | Severity | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 102021 | Incomplete validation in boosted trees code | Critical9.3 | 2.4.4+2 more |
| Nov 102021 | Crash in `tf.math.segment_*` operations | Medium5.5 | 2.4.4+2 more |
| Nov 102021 | Crash in `max_pool3d` when size argument is 0 or negative | Medium5.5 | 2.4.4+2 more |
| Nov 102021 | Crashes due to overflow and `CHECK`-fail in ops with large tensor shapes | Medium5.5 | 2.4.4+2 more |
| Nov 102021 | Overflow/crash in `tf.tile` when tiling tensor is large | Medium5.5 | 2.4.4+2 more |
| Nov 102021 | Overflow/crash in `tf.image.resize` when size is large | Medium5.5 | 2.4.4+2 more |