CVE-2021-37674 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in tensorflow. A fix is available for tensorflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Incomplete validation in `MaxPoolGrad`
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-37674 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 trigger a denial of service via a segmentation fault in tf.raw_ops.MaxPoolGrad caused by missing validation:
import tensorflow as tf
tf.raw_ops.MaxPoolGrad(
orig_input = tf.constant([], shape=[3, 0, 0, 2], dtype=tf.float32),
orig_output = tf.constant([], shape=[3, 0, 0, 2], dtype=tf.float32),
grad = tf.constant([], shape=[3, 0, 0, 2], dtype=tf.float32),
ksize = [1, 16, 16, 1],
strides = [1, 16, 18, 1],
padding = "EXPLICIT",
explicit_paddings = [0, 0, 14, 3, 15, 5, 0, 0])
The implementation misses some validation for the orig_input and orig_output tensors.
The fixes for CVE-2021-29579 were incomplete.
Patches
We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 136b51f10903e044308cf77117c0ed9871350475.
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 Yakun Zhang of Baidu Security.
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-2021-37674 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-2021-37674 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.