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Medium

Security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVCVE: CVE-2021-37689

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can craft a TFLite model that would trigger a null pointer dereference, which would result in a crash and denial of service. This is caused by the MLIR optimization of `L2NormalizeReduceAxis` operator. The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/149562d49faa709ea80df1d99fc41d005b81082a/tensorflow/compiler/mlir/lite/transforms/optimize.cc#L67-L70) unconditionally dereferences a pointer to an iterator to a vector without checking that the vector has elements. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955. 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.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2021-37689
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
31 Oct 2026, 12:52 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

CVE-2021-37689

core-osv · Original source

Published 12 Aug 2021, 22:15 UTC

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can craft a TFLite model that would trigger a null pointer dereference, which would result in a crash and denial of service. This is caused by the MLIR optimization of `L2NormalizeReduceAxis` operator. The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/149562d49faa709ea80df1d99fc41d005b81082a/tensorflow/compiler/mlir/lite/transforms/optimize.cc#L67-L70) unconditionally dereferences a pointer to an iterator to a vector without checking that the vector has elements. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955. 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.

osv:CVE-2021-37689
Complete source record
{
  "id": "e8107e411ef92d430c00c5bf8a06caa631e55f2c34d289456c4b1d3d36c78e01",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-37689",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "CVE-2021-37689",
    "summary": "TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions an attacker can craft a TFLite model that would trigger a null pointer dereference, which would result in a crash and denial of service. This is caused by the MLIR optimization of `L2NormalizeReduceAxis` operator. The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/149562d49faa709ea80df1d99fc41d005b81082a/tensorflow/compiler/mlir/lite/transforms/optimize.cc#L67-L70) unconditionally dereferences a pointer to an iterator to a vector without checking that the vector has elements. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955. 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.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2021-37689",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2021-37689",
      "aliases": [
        "BIT-tensorflow-2021-37689",
        "CVE-2021-37689",
        "GHSA-wf5p-c75w-w3wh",
        "PYSEC-2021-311",
        "PYSEC-2021-602",
        "PYSEC-2021-800"
      ],
      "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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      "affected": [
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                {
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              ],
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                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
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                        "introduced": "2.3.0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "2.3.4"
                      }
                    ],
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                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
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                        "introduced": "2.4.0"
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                      {
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                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:2.6.0:rc0:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
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                    "source": "CPE_STRING"
                  },
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:2.6.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "2.6.0-rc1"
                      },
                      {
                        "last_affected": "2.6.0-rc1"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_STRING"
                  },
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:2.6.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "2.6.0-rc2"
                      },
                      {
                        "last_affected": "2.6.0-rc2"
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                    "source": "CPE_STRING"
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                  {
                    "range": [
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                    "source": "REFERENCES_COMMIT"
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          ],
          "versions": [
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            "2.6.0-rc1",
            "2.6.0-rc2",
            "v2.3.3",
            "v2.4.2",
            "v2.3.2",
            "v2.4.1",
            "v2.4.0",
            "v2.3.1",
            "v2.3.0"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2021-37689.json",
            "vanir_signatures": [
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                "id": "CVE-2021-37689-76254634",
                "digest": {
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                  "function_hash": "299718482884630951237873277313559605373"
                },
                "source": "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955",
                "target": {
                  "file": "tensorflow/compiler/mlir/lite/transforms/optimize.cc",
                  "function": "L2NormalizeReduceAxis"
                },
                "deprecated": false,
                "signature_type": "Function",
                "signature_version": "v1"
              },
              {
                "id": "CVE-2021-37689-eb80fdf8",
                "digest": {
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                "source": "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955",
                "target": {
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                "signature_type": "Line",
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            "vanir_signatures_modified": "2026-10-20T14:28:23Z"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-20T14:28:23.131220284Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-wf5p-c75w-w3wh",
        "https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {}
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2021-37689",
        "evidence": "/id"
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    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 389053,
  "published_at": "2021-08-12T22:15:09.19+00:00"
}