CVE-2021-37686Infinite loop in TensorFlow Lite
- 5.5MediumCVSS base score
- 0.17%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 93% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions the strided slice implementation in TFLite has a logic bug which can allow an attacker to trigger an infinite loop. This arises from newly introduced support for [ellipsis in axis definition](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/149562d49faa709ea80df1d99fc41d005b81082a/tensorflow/lite/kernels/strided_slice.cc#L103-L122). An attacker can craft a model such that `ellipsis_end_idx` is smaller than `i` (e.g., always negative). In this case, the inner loop does not increase `i` and the `continue` statement causes execution to skip over the preincrement at the end of the outer loop. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit dfa22b348b70bb89d6d6ec0ff53973bacb4f4695. TensorFlow 2.6.0 is the only affected version.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 14 days later
· 14 days later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.17% · top 93% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Affected products
- affected >= 2.6.0rc0, < 2.6.0rc2
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPItensorflowGHSA-mhhc-q96p-mfm9 (opens in a new tab)
- PyPItensorflow-cpuGHSA-mhhc-q96p-mfm9 (opens in a new tab)
- PyPItensorflow-gpuGHSA-mhhc-q96p-mfm9 (opens in a new tab)
References
References2
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-mhhc-q96p-mfm9 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/dfa22b348b70bb89d6d6ec0ff53973bacb4f4695 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2021-0412 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-mhhc-q96p-mfm9 (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2021-37686)Record last updated .