How severe is CVE-2021-29609?

CVE-2021-29609 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity low, and availability high.

Is CVE-2021-29609 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (14th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2021-29609?

CVE-2021-29609 affects Google Tensorflow. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2021-29609?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2021-29609 published?

CVE-2021-29609 was published on 2021-05-14 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2021-29609

CVE-2021-29609 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Google Tensorflow with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.3)
CVSS v2: 4.6
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (14th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Google Tensorflow
Published: 2021-05-14
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Incomplete validation in `SparseAdd` results in allowing attackers to exploit undefined behavior (dereferencing null pointers) as well as write outside of bounds of heap allocated data. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/656e7673b14acd7835dc778867f84916c6d1cac2/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse_add_op.cc) has a large set of validation for the two sparse tensor inputs (6 tensors in total), but does not validate that the tensors are not empty or that the second dimension of `*_indices` matches the size of corresponding `*_shape`. This allows attackers to send tensor triples that represent invalid sparse tensors to abuse code assumptions that are not protected by validation. 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.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-29609?: TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. Incomplete validation in `SparseAdd` results in allowing attackers to exploit undefined behavior (dereferencing null pointers) as well as write outside of bounds of heap allocated data. The implementation(https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/656e7673b14acd7835dc778867f84916c6d1cac2/tensorflow/core/kernels/sparse_add_op.cc) has a large set of validation for the two sparse tensor inputs (6 tensors in total), but does not validate that the tensors are not empty or that the second dimension of `*_indices` matches the size of corresponding `*_shape`. This allows attackers to send tensor triples that represent invalid sparse tensors to abuse code assumptions that are not protected by validation. 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.
How severe is CVE-2021-29609?: CVE-2021-29609 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity low, and availability high.
Is CVE-2021-29609 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (14th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2021-29609?: CVE-2021-29609 affects Google Tensorflow. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2021-29609?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2021-29609 published?: CVE-2021-29609 was published on 2021-05-14 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:google:tensorflow:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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