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Security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVCVE: CVE-2021-29516

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Calling `tf.raw_ops.RaggedTensorToVariant` with arguments specifying an invalid ragged tensor results in a null pointer dereference. The implementation of `RaggedTensorToVariant` operations(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/904b3926ed1c6c70380d5313d282d248a776baa1/tensorflow/core/kernels/ragged_tensor_to_variant_op.cc#L39-L40) does not validate that the ragged tensor argument is non-empty. Since `batched_ragged` contains no elements, `batched_ragged.splits` is a null vector, thus `batched_ragged.splits(0)` will result in dereferencing `nullptr`. 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.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
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CVEs
CVE-2021-29516
Confirmed fixed CVEs
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Updated in this feed
31 Oct 2026, 12:43 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

CVE-2021-29516

core-osv · Original source

Published 14 May 2021, 20:15 UTC

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Calling `tf.raw_ops.RaggedTensorToVariant` with arguments specifying an invalid ragged tensor results in a null pointer dereference. The implementation of `RaggedTensorToVariant` operations(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/904b3926ed1c6c70380d5313d282d248a776baa1/tensorflow/core/kernels/ragged_tensor_to_variant_op.cc#L39-L40) does not validate that the ragged tensor argument is non-empty. Since `batched_ragged` contains no elements, `batched_ragged.splits` is a null vector, thus `batched_ragged.splits(0)` will result in dereferencing `nullptr`. 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.

osv:CVE-2021-29516
Complete source record
{
  "id": "3d83db13d45336a6d0f7b591a20d640dfe1cd8b65277142539529edbf5227758",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-29516",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "CVE-2021-29516",
    "summary": "TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Calling `tf.raw_ops.RaggedTensorToVariant` with arguments specifying an invalid ragged tensor results in a null pointer dereference. The implementation of `RaggedTensorToVariant` operations(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/904b3926ed1c6c70380d5313d282d248a776baa1/tensorflow/core/kernels/ragged_tensor_to_variant_op.cc#L39-L40) does not validate that the ragged tensor argument is non-empty. Since `batched_ragged` contains no elements, `batched_ragged.splits` is a null vector, thus `batched_ragged.splits(0)` will result in dereferencing `nullptr`. 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.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2021-29516",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
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      "aliases": [
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        "CVE-2021-29516",
        "GHSA-84mw-34w6-2q43",
        "PYSEC-2021-153",
        "PYSEC-2021-444",
        "PYSEC-2021-642"
      ],
      "metrics": [
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          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
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                    "range": [
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                    "source": "REFERENCES_COMMIT"
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          "versions": [
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            "v2.3.2",
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          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2021-29516.json",
            "vanir_signatures": [
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            "vanir_signatures_modified": "2026-10-20T14:20:37Z"
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      "modified": "2026-10-20T14:20:37.934603282Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/b055b9c474cd376259dde8779908f9eeaf097d93",
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-84mw-34w6-2q43"
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      "provider_metadata": {}
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    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2021-29516",
        "evidence": "/id"
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    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
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  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 388828,
  "published_at": "2021-05-14T20:15:11.347+00:00"
}