What is CVE-2021-29612?

CVE-2021-29612 is a low-severity vulnerability in Google Tensorflow, classified under Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input (Classic Buffer Overflow). CVSS score: 3.6/10. Published 2021-05-14.

How severe is CVE-2021-29612?

Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.6 out of 10.

Buffer overflow in Google Tensorflow

CVE-2021-29612

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. An attacker can trigger a heap buffer overflow in Eigen implementation of `tf.raw_ops.BandedTriangularSolve`. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/eccb7ec454e6617738554a255d77f08e60ee0808/tensorflow/core/kernels/linalg/banded_triangular_solve_op.cc#L269-L278) calls `ValidateInputTensors` for input validation but fails to validate that the two tensors are not empty. Furthermore, since `OP_REQUIRES` macro only stops execution of current function after setting `ctx->status()` to a non-OK value, callers of helper functions that use `OP_REQUIRES` must check value of `ctx->status()` before continuing. This doesn't happen in this op's implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/eccb7ec454e6617738554a255d77f08e60ee0808/tensorflow/core/kernels/linalg/banded_triangular_solve_op.cc#L219), hence the validation that is present is also not effective. 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.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2021-05-14 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 3.6 (Low). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (19.1th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 19th percentile — 19.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Google Tensorflow
Tensorflow — versions < 2.1.4, >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3, >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-2xgj-xhgf-ggjv (Exploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory)
github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/0ab290774f91a23bebe30a358fde4e53ab4876a0 (Patch, Third Party Advisory)
github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/ba6822bd7b7324ba201a28b2f278c29a98edbef2 (Patch, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-29612?: CVE-2021-29612 is a low-severity vulnerability in Google Tensorflow, classified under Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input (Classic Buffer Overflow). CVSS score: 3.6/10. Published 2021-05-14.
How severe is CVE-2021-29612?: Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.6 out of 10.