How severe is CVE-2021-29615?

CVE-2021-29615 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-29615?

CVE-2021-29615 affects the following packages: tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI), and 4 more. Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2021-29615?

Update tensorflow to 2.1.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-29615 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-29615 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tensorflow, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-29615 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Is CVE-2021-29615 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2021-29615, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-29615?

CVE-2021-29615 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.2%, placing it in the 10th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-29615?

CVE-2021-29615 is classified as CWE-674 (CWE-674). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-29615 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-29615 was published on May 14, 2021 and was last updated on August 7, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-29615 — tensorflow

MEDIUMFix: tensorflow/tensorflow@e07e1c3

CVE-2021-29615 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-674 vulnerability in tensorflow. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for tensorflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Stack overflow in `ParseAttrValue` with nested tensors

Also known asBIT-tensorflow-2021-29615GHSA-qw5h-7f53-xrp6PYSEC-2021-252PYSEC-2021-543PYSEC-2021-741

Published

May 14, 2021

Updated

Aug 7, 2026

Affected

12 pkgs

Patched

12 / 12

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs10th percentile — riskier than 10% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-29615 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

12 pkgs affected

🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-cpu+4 more

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

The implementation of ParseAttrValue can be tricked into stack overflow due to recursion by giving in a specially crafted input.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit e07e1c3d26492c06f078c7e5bf2d138043e199c1.

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.

For more information

Please consult our security guide for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions.

Affected Packages

12 total 12 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow`	all versions	2.1.4`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.1.4'`
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow`	≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.3	2.2.3`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.2.3'`
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow`	≥ 2.3.0&&< 2.3.3	2.3.3`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.3.3'`
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow`	≥ 2.4.0&&< 2.4.2	2.4.2`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.4.2'`
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow-cpu`	all versions	2.1.4`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.1.4'`
🐍PyPI	`tensorflow-cpu`	≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.3	2.2.3`pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.2.3'`

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

Application

tensorflowgoogle

≥ 2.4.0 && < 2.4.2

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. T…

github.comNVDMay 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tensorflow, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update tensorflow to 2.1.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-29615 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact The implementation of [`ParseAttrValue`](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/c22d88d6ff33031aa113e48aa3fc9aa74ed79595/tensorflow/core/framework/attr_value_util.cc#L397-L453) can be tricked into stack overflow due to recursion by giving in a specially crafted input. ### Patches We have patched the issue in GitHub commit [e07e1c3d26492c06f078c7e5bf2d138043e199c1](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/e07e1c3d26492c06f078c7e5bf2d138043e199c1). 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, T

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-29615 in your dependencies?

Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.5/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-674CWE-674

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

tensorflow

7.6/10

Maintained10/10

Code-Review4/10

Dependency-Update-Tool10/10

Branch-ProtectionN/A

Vulnerabilities0/10

Assessed Oct 10, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

May 14, 2021

First exploit

May 18, 2021

4 days after disclosure — rapid exploitation

Last updated

Aug 7, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2021-29615

GHSA-qw5h-7f53-xrp6

BIT-tensorflow-2021-29615

PYSEC-2021-252

PYSEC-2021-543

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov Fixgithub.com Fixgithub.com Webgithub.com Webgithub.com Webgithub.com Packagegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 8 of 8 other CVEs affecting tensorflow are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2023-33976CVE-2023-25661CVE-2023-25670CVE-2023-25665CVE-2023-27579CVE-2023-25673CVE-2023-25663CVE-2023-25658

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedAug 7, 2026

CVE-2021-29615 — tensorflow

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Impact

Patches

For more information

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2021-29615 in your dependencies?