CVE-2021-41208

Incomplete validation in boosted trees code

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: November 5, 2021 at 09:50 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:08 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsTensorflowTensorFlow

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

TensorFlow is an open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions the code for boosted trees in TensorFlow is still missing validation. As a result, attackers can trigger denial of service (via dereferencing `nullptr`s or via `CHECK`-failures) as well as abuse undefined behavior (binding references to `nullptr`s). An attacker can also read and write from heap buffers, depending on the API that gets used and the arguments that are passed to the call. Given that the boosted trees implementation in TensorFlow is unmaintained, it is recommend to no longer use these APIs. We will deprecate TensorFlow's boosted trees APIs in subsequent releases. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.7.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.6.1, TensorFlow 2.5.2, and TensorFlow 2.4.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

2.4.0 ≤ v < 2.4.42.5.0 ≤ v < 2.5.22.6.0 ≤ v < 2.6.12.7.0 rc02.7.0 rc1
Affected range stops below 2.4.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.5.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.6.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 2.4.4v < 2.5.2v < 2.6.1
Affected range stops below 2.4.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.5.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.6.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-476CWE-824

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