Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in TensorFlow’s FractionalAvgPoolGrad operation can let a local, low-privileged user or workload trigger a heap buffer overflow. The published impact is low: no confidentiality or integrity loss is identified, and availability impact is limited.
Executive priority
Treat as routine patching unless TensorFlow is exposed to untrusted users or shared multi-tenant ML workloads. The business risk is mainly process disruption, not data theft.
Technical view
TensorFlow fails to validate that pooling sequence arguments contain enough elements for the out_backprop tensor shape in tf.raw_ops.FractionalAvgPoolGrad. This can cause a heap buffer overflow. The CVSS 3.1 vector is local, high complexity, low privilege, no user interaction, with low availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant in systems running affected TensorFlow versions that process untrusted graphs, models, or tensor inputs. Single-user controlled ML environments are lower concern.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation is described as local, high complexity, and requiring low privileges.
Researcher notes
The key validation point is missing length checking for pooling sequence arguments versus out_backprop shape in FractionalAvgPoolGrad. The cited commit is the relevant remediation evidence; avoid assuming broader product impact beyond TensorFlow.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade TensorFlow to 2.5.0 or the fixed supported branch release.
- Use TensorFlow 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, or 2.1.4 where applicable.
- Restrict untrusted users from submitting arbitrary TensorFlow graphs or models.
- Isolate ML workloads that process untrusted inputs.
- Check TensorFlow advisory guidance before deploying fixes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory TensorFlow versions in applications, notebooks, containers, and training workers.
- Flag versions below 2.1.4 and affected 2.2.x, 2.3.x, and 2.4.x releases.
- Review whether services expose TensorFlow execution to untrusted users or tenants.
- Confirm upgraded deployments report a fixed TensorFlow version.
- Run regression tests for ML workloads after upgrading.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-119: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-29578 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Low
- CVSS
- 2.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L11.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
2.5LowVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-6f89-8j54-29xfCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/12c727cee857fa19be717f336943d95fca4ffe4fCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.