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Medium

Security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVCVE: CVE-2021-29581

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Due to lack of validation in `tf.raw_ops.CTCBeamSearchDecoder`, an attacker can trigger denial of service via segmentation faults. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/a74768f8e4efbda4def9f16ee7e13cf3922ac5f7/tensorflow/core/kernels/ctc_decoder_ops.cc#L68-L79) fails to detect cases when the input tensor is empty and proceeds to read data from a null buffer. 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
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Fixed versions
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CVEs
CVE-2021-29581
Confirmed fixed CVEs
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Updated in this feed
31 Oct 2026, 12:44 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

CVE-2021-29581

core-osv · Original source

Published 14 May 2021, 20:15 UTC

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Due to lack of validation in `tf.raw_ops.CTCBeamSearchDecoder`, an attacker can trigger denial of service via segmentation faults. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/a74768f8e4efbda4def9f16ee7e13cf3922ac5f7/tensorflow/core/kernels/ctc_decoder_ops.cc#L68-L79) fails to detect cases when the input tensor is empty and proceeds to read data from a null buffer. 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-2021-29581
Complete source record
{
  "id": "c861efd7d1f08ed301faba112f08a3f2449a59414099c29315d16628a1f10f2f",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-29581",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "CVE-2021-29581",
    "summary": "TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Due to lack of validation in `tf.raw_ops.CTCBeamSearchDecoder`, an attacker can trigger denial of service via segmentation faults. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/a74768f8e4efbda4def9f16ee7e13cf3922ac5f7/tensorflow/core/kernels/ctc_decoder_ops.cc#L68-L79) fails to detect cases when the input tensor is empty and proceeds to read data from a null buffer. 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-2021-29581",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2021-29581",
      "aliases": [
        "BIT-tensorflow-2021-29581",
        "CVE-2021-29581",
        "GHSA-vq2r-5xvm-3hc3",
        "PYSEC-2021-218",
        "PYSEC-2021-509",
        "PYSEC-2021-707"
      ],
      "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"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
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            "v2.3.2",
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            "v1.1.0-rc1",
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          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2021-29581.json",
            "vanir_signatures": [
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                "source": "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/b1b323042264740c398140da32e93fb9c2c9f33e",
                "target": {
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            "vanir_signatures_modified": "2026-10-20T14:24:35Z"
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      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-20T14:24:35.252529231Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/b1b323042264740c398140da32e93fb9c2c9f33e",
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-vq2r-5xvm-3hc3"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {}
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    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2021-29581",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 388938,
  "published_at": "2021-05-14T20:15:14.343+00:00"
}