CVE-2021-37685 : What You Need to Know

This article discusses the details of CVE-2021-37685, a vulnerability in TensorFlow Lite that allows reading one element outside of bounds of heap allocated data.

Understanding CVE-2021-37685

This section provides insights into what CVE-2021-37685 is and the impact it has.

What is CVE-2021-37685?

CVE-2021-37685 is a vulnerability in TensorFlow Lite that allows reading one element outside of bounds of heap allocated data.

The Impact of CVE-2021-37685

The vulnerability can lead to a high confidentiality impact as it allows unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-37685

In this section, we delve into the technical aspects of CVE-2021-37685.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability in TFLite's

expand_dims.cc

enables reading data outside the allocated memory, posing a risk of data exposure.

Affected Systems and Versions

TensorFlow versions >= 2.3.4 and < 2.5.1 are affected, including 2.4.3 and 2.5.0.

Exploitation Mechanism

By utilizing a large negative value for

axis

, the

for

loop reads one element before the start of

input_dims.data

.

Mitigation and Prevention

This section advises on mitigating the risks associated with CVE-2021-37685.

Immediate Steps to Take

Users are recommended to update TensorFlow to version 2.6.0 once the fix is released to address the vulnerability.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly updating TensorFlow and other dependencies can help prevent such vulnerabilities in the future.

Patching and Updates

Ensure to cherrypick the GitHub commit d94ffe08a65400f898241c0374e9edc6fa8ed257 on TensorFlow versions 2.3.4, 2.4.3, and 2.5.1 to apply the necessary patches.