CVE-2021-29531
Severity CVSS v4.0:
Pending analysis
Type:
Unavailable / Other
Publication date:
14/05/2021
Last modified:
20/05/2021
Description
TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a `CHECK` fail in PNG encoding by providing an empty input tensor as the pixel data. This is because the implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/e312e0791ce486a80c9d23110841525c6f7c3289/tensorflow/core/kernels/image/encode_png_op.cc#L57-L60) only validates that the total number of pixels in the image does not overflow. Thus, an attacker can send an empty matrix for encoding. However, if the tensor is empty, then the associated buffer is `nullptr`. Hence, when calling `png::WriteImageToBuffer`(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/e312e0791ce486a80c9d23110841525c6f7c3289/tensorflow/core/kernels/image/encode_png_op.cc#L79-L93), the first argument (i.e., `image.flat().data()`) is `NULL`. This then triggers the `CHECK_NOTNULL` in the first line of `png::WriteImageToBuffer`(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/e312e0791ce486a80c9d23110841525c6f7c3289/tensorflow/core/lib/png/png_io.cc#L345-L349). Since `image` is null, this results in `abort` being called after printing the stacktrace. Effectively, this allows an attacker to mount a denial of service attack. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.5.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.4.2, TensorFlow 2.3.3, TensorFlow 2.2.3 and TensorFlow 2.1.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.
Impact
Base Score 3.x
5.50
Severity 3.x
MEDIUM
Base Score 2.0
2.10
Severity 2.0
LOW
Vulnerable products and versions
| CPE | From | Up to |
|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.1.4 (excluding) | |
| cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.2.0 (including) | 2.2.3 (excluding) |
| cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.3.0 (including) | 2.3.3 (excluding) |
| cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.4.0 (including) | 2.4.2 (excluding) |
To consult the complete list of CPE names with products and versions, see this page



