CVE-2023-25668 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-122 vulnerability in tensorflow. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for tensorflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
TensorFlow vulnerable to heap out-of-buffer read in the QuantizeAndDequantize operation
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-25668.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
tensorflow🐍tensorflow-cpu🐍tensorflow-gpuReal-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
Attackers using Tensorflow can exploit the vulnerability. They can access heap memory which is not in the control of user, leading to a crash or RCE. When axis is larger than the dim of input, c->Dim(input,axis) goes out of bound. Same problem occurs in the QuantizeAndDequantizeV2/V3/V4/V4Grad operations too.
import tensorflow as tf
@tf.function
def test():
tf.raw_ops.QuantizeAndDequantizeV2(input=[2.5],
input_min=[1.0],
input_max=[10.0],
signed_input=True,
num_bits=1,
range_given=True,
round_mode='HALF_TO_EVEN',
narrow_range=True,
axis=0x7fffffff)
test()
Patches
We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 7b174a0f2e40ff3f3aa957aecddfd5aaae35eccb.
The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.12.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.11.1
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
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow | all versions | 2.11.1pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow==2.11.1' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow-cpu | all versions | 2.11.1pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-cpu==2.11.1' |
| 🐍PyPI | tensorflow-gpu | all versions | 2.11.1pip install --upgrade 'tensorflow-gpu==2.11.1' |
Affected Products
tensorflowgoogleResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & 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 2.11.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25668 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-25668 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.