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GHSA-c5x2-p679-95wc

HighCVSS 7.7 / 10
Published Aug 25, 2021·Last modified Mar 13, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Impact

When a user does not supply arguments that determine a valid sparse tensor, tf.raw_ops.SparseTensorSliceDataset implementation can be made to dereference a null pointer:

import tensorflow as tf

tf.raw_ops.SparseTensorSliceDataset(
  indices=[[],[],[]],
  values=[1,2,3],
  dense_shape=[3,3])

The implementation has some argument validation but fails to consider the case when either indices or values are provided for an empty sparse tensor when the other is not.

If indices is empty (as in the example above), then code that performs validation (i.e., checking that the indices are monotonically increasing) results in a null pointer dereference:

    for (int64_t i = 0; i < indices->dim_size(0); ++i) {
      int64_t next_batch_index = indices->matrix<int64>()(i, 0);
      ...
    }

If indices as provided by the user is empty, then indices in the C++ code above is backed by an empty std::vector, hence calling indices->dim_size(0) results in null pointer dereferencing (same as calling std::vector::at() on an empty vector).

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 02cc160e29d20631de3859c6653184e3f876b9d7.

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.

Risk Scores
Base Score
7.7

The vulnerability requires local access to the device to be exploited. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data. There is a high impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
7.1

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
0.16%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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