CVE-2021-41198: TensorFlow integer overflow in tf.tile

CVE-2021-41198 · Severity: low · CVSS 3.1 · Published 2021-11-05

TensorFlow's tf.tile function contains an integer overflow vulnerability that causes the TensorFlow process to crash when handling large tensor tiling operations. An attacker with the ability to call tf.tile with crafted parameters can trigger an immediate denial of service, interrupting any machine learning workload or application relying on TensorFlow.

Technologies: Google TensorFlow, tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI), tensorflow-gpu (PyPI). Vendors: Google, PyPI.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2021-41198 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2021-41198 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2021-41198?
Low severity, with a CVSS score of 3.1, published 5 November 2021.
Which products and versions are affected?
Google TensorFlow before 2.4.4, 2.5.0-2.5.1, 2.6.0; tensorflow (PyPI) GIT:introduced=0,fixed=9294094df6fea79271778eb7e7ae1bad8b5ef98f|ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.4.4,introduced=2.5.0,fixed=2.5.2,introduced=2.6.0,fixed=2.6.1,introduced=2.7.0rc0,fixed=2.7.0; tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) GIT:introduced=0,fixed=9294094df6fea79271778eb7e7ae1bad8b5ef98f|ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.4.4,introduced=2.5.0,fixed=2.5.2,introduced=2.6.0,fixed=2.6.1,introduced=2.7.0rc0,fixed=2.7.0; tensorflow-gpu (PyPI) GIT:introduced=0,fixed=9294094df6fea79271778eb7e7ae1bad8b5ef98f|ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=2.4.4,introduced=2.5.0,fixed=2.5.2,introduced=2.6.0,fixed=2.6.1,introduced=2.7.0rc0,fixed=2.7.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2021-41198?
Yes. tensorflow (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later; tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later; tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2021-41198 attacked?
It is attacked with local access.
Am I affected by CVE-2021-41198?
Check whether you run Google TensorFlow, tensorflow (PyPI), tensorflow-cpu (PyPI) or one of the others listed at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • tensorflow (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later
    pip install "tensorflow>=2.7.0"
  • tensorflow-cpu (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later
    pip install "tensorflow-cpu>=2.7.0"
  • tensorflow-gpu (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.0 or later
    pip install "tensorflow-gpu>=2.7.0"

Technical details

The vulnerability is an integer overflow (CWE-190) in TensorFlow's tf.tile function. When tf.tile is called with large input dimensions, the computation of the output tensor size overflows the int64_t type. The overflow is detected via a CHECK statement that aborts the process rather than gracefully handling the condition. An attacker who can invoke tf.tile with crafted tensor dimensions (e.g., np.ones((1,1,1)) tiled by [100000000, 100000000, 100000000]) triggers an immediate denial of service. No special privileges or authentication are required if the attacker has local code execution or can submit jobs to a shared TensorFlow service. The fix was applied in commit 9294094df6fea79271778eb7e7ae1bad8b5ef98f and backported to versions 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, and included in 2.7.0.

Affected products

  • Google TensorFlow before 2.4.4, 2.5.0-2.5.1, 2.6.0
  • Google TensorFlow CPU before 2.4.4, 2.5.0-2.5.1, 2.6.0
  • Google TensorFlow GPU before 2.4.4, 2.5.0-2.5.1, 2.6.0

Identifiers

  • CVE-2021-41198
  • GHSA-2p25-55c9-h58q
  • PYSEC-2021-391
  • PYSEC-2021-608
  • PYSEC-2021-806

Timeline

  • 2021-11-10: disclosed: GHSA-2p25-55c9-h58q published
  • 2021-11: patched: Patches released in TensorFlow 2.4.4, 2.5.2, 2.6.1 and 2.7.0

References

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