Answer in brief
CVE-2021-37689 records a High severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in Null pointer dereference in TFLite MLIR optimizations. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow-cpu (pypi) and additional mapped packages. Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 7.8. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow (pypi), tensorflow-cpu (pypi) and additional mapped packages. Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| tensorflowpypi | >=0 <2.3.4 | 2.3.4 |
| tensorflowpypi | >=2.4.0 <2.4.3 | 2.4.3 |
| tensorflowpypi | >=2.5.0 <2.5.1 | 2.5.1 |
| tensorflow-cpupypi | >=0 <2.3.4 | 2.3.4 |
| tensorflow-cpupypi | >=2.4.0 <2.4.3 | 2.4.3 |
| tensorflow-cpupypi | >=2.5.0 <2.5.1 | 2.5.1 |
| tensorflow-gpupypi | >=0 <2.3.4 | 2.3.4 |
| tensorflow-gpupypi | >=2.4.0 <2.4.3 | 2.4.3 |
| tensorflow-gpupypi | >=2.5.0 <2.5.1 | 2.5.1 |
Published upstream
Aug 25, 2021
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Sep 10, 2026
### Impact 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: ```cc bool L2NormalizeReduceAxis(Value sq_op, DenseElementsAttr axis) { if (sq_op.getType().cast<ShapedType>().getRank() - 1 == *axis.getValues<int>().begin() || *axis.getValues<int>().begin() == -1) { // ... } // ... } ``` ### Patches We have patched the issue in GitHub commit [d6b57f461b39fd1aa8c1b870f1b974aac3554955](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/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. ### For more information Please consult [our security guide](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/master/SECURITY.md) for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions. ### Attribution This vulnerability has been reported by Yakun Zhang of Baidu Security.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.