Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
critical 9.3

CVE-2021-37678 json

Arbitrary code execution due to YAML deserialization

published 2021-08-12 5 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also BIT-tensorflow-2021-37678 , EUVD-2021-0404 , GHSA-r6jx-9g48-2r5r , PYSEC-2021-300 , PYSEC-2021-591 , PYSEC-2021-789

cvss
9.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 39%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions TensorFlow and Keras can be tricked to perform arbitrary code execution when deserializing a Keras model from YAML format. The [implementation](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/460e000de3a83278fb00b61a16d161b1964f15f4/tensorflow/python/keras/saving/model_config.py#L66-L104) uses `yaml.unsafe_load` which can perform arbitrary code execution on the input. Given that YAML format support requires a significant amount of work, we have removed it for now. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 23d6383eb6c14084a8fc3bdf164043b974818012. 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.

Patch / fix

  • pypi tensorflow 2.3.4, 2.4.3, 2.5.1
  • pypi tensorflow-cpu 2.3.4, 2.4.3, 2.5.1
  • pypi tensorflow-gpu 2.3.4, 2.4.3, 2.5.1
  • bitnami tensorflow 2.3.4, 2.4.3, 2.5.1
  • google tensorflow 2.3.4, 2.4.3
  • tensorflow2 Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 2.6.0-bp153.2.3.1
  • bazel3.7 Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 3.7.2-bp153.4.1
  • tensorflow2-lite Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 2.6.0-bp153.2.3.1
  • bazel-skylib1.0.3 Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 1.0.3-bp153.2.1
  • tensorflow2_2_6_0-gnu-hpc Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 2.6.0-bp153.2.3.1
  • tensorflow2_2_6_0-gnu-openmpi2-hpc Package Hub 15 SP3, openSUSE Leap 15.3 2.6.0-bp153.2.3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2022:10014-1

  • tensorflow Arch Linux 2.5.1-1

arch linux advisories AVG-2292

Exploit prediction

0.45% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 39% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 9.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 9.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 4.6 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
OSV 3.1 9.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
pypi tensorflow
<2.3.4
>=2.4.0, <2.4.3
>=2.5.0, <2.5.1
>=2.3.0, <2.3.4
2.3.4
2.4.3
2.5.1
pypi tensorflow-cpu
<2.3.4
>=2.4.0, <2.4.3
>=2.5.0, <2.5.1
>=2.3.0, <2.3.4
2.3.4
2.4.3
2.5.1
pypi tensorflow-gpu
<2.3.4
>=2.4.0, <2.4.3
>=2.5.0, <2.5.1
>=2.3.0, <2.3.4
2.3.4
2.4.3
2.5.1
bitnami tensorflow
>=2.3.0, <2.3.4
>=2.4.0, <2.4.3
>=2.5.0, <2.5.1
2.3.4
2.4.3
2.5.1

Affected products

  • tensorflow tensorflow

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-502 Deserialization of Untrusted Data

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.