CVE-2021-37669 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-681 vulnerability in tensorflow. A fix is available for tensorflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Crash in NMS ops caused by integer conversion to unsigned
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-37669 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
tensorflow🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-gpu🐍tensorflow-gpu+1 moreReal-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
An attacker can cause denial of service in applications serving models using tf.raw_ops.NonMaxSuppressionV5 by triggering a division by 0:
import tensorflow as tf
tf.raw_ops.NonMaxSuppressionV5(
boxes=[[0.1,0.1,0.1,0.1],[0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2],[0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3]],
scores=[1.0,2.0,3.0],
max_output_size=-1,
iou_threshold=0.5,
score_threshold=0.5,
soft_nms_sigma=1.0,
pad_to_max_output_size=True)
The implementation uses a user controlled argument to resize a std::vector:
const int output_size = max_output_size.scalar<int>()();
// ...
std::vector<int> selected;
// ...
if (pad_to_max_output_size) {
selected.resize(output_size, 0);
// ...
}
However, as std::vector::resize takes the size argument as a size_t and output_size is an int, there is an implicit conversion to usigned. If the attacker supplies a negative value, this conversion results in a crash.
A similar issue occurs in CombinedNonMaxSuppression:
import tensorflow as tf
tf.raw_ops.NonMaxSuppressionV5(
boxes=[[[[0.1,0.1,0.1,0.1],[0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2],[0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3]],[[0.1,0.1,0.1,0.1],[0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2],[0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3]],[[0.1,0.1,0.1,0.1],[0.2,0.2,0.2,0.2],[0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3]]]],
scores=[[[1.0,2.0,3.0],[1.0,2.0,3.0],[1.0,2.0,3.0]]],
max_output_size_per_class=-1,
max_total_size=10,
iou_threshold=score_threshold=0.5,
pad_per_class=True,
clip_boxes=True)
Patches
We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 3a7362750d5c372420aa8f0caf7bf5b5c3d0f52d and commit b5cdbf12ffcaaffecf98f22a6be5a64bb96e4f58.
The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, TensorFlow 2.4.3, and TensorFlow 2.3.4, 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.
Attribution
This vulnerability has been reported by members of the Aivul Team from Qihoo 360.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow | all versions | 2.3.4pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.3.4' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow | ≥ 2.4.0&&< 2.4.3 | 2.4.3pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.4.3' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.1 | 2.5.1pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.5.1' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow-cpu | all versions | 2.3.4pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.3.4' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow-cpu | ≥ 2.4.0&&< 2.4.3 | 2.4.3pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.4.3' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow-cpu | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.1 | 2.5.1pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.5.1' |
Affected Products
tensorflowgoogleDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 2.3.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-37669 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-37669 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.