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Low, CVSS 2.0amended

CHECK-fail in tf.raw_ops.EncodePng

CVE-2021-29531GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (tensorflow 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4; tensorflow-gpu 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4; tensorflow-cpu 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • PyPI tensorflow

    Affected
    < 2.1.4>= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3>= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3>= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2
    Fixed in
    2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4

  • PyPI tensorflow-gpu

    Affected
    < 2.1.4>= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3>= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3>= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2
    Fixed in
    2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4

  • PyPI tensorflow-cpu

    Affected
    < 2.1.4>= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3>= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3>= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2
    Fixed in
    2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS 4.0
2.0 · CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2021-29531: 0.19% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 8.62 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact An attacker can trigger a CHECK fail in PNG encoding by providing an empty input tensor as the pixel data: This is because the implementation only validates that the total number of pixels in the image does not overflow. Thus, an attacker can send an empty matrix for encoding. However, if the tensor is empty, then the associated buffer is nullptr. Hence, when calling png::WriteImageToBuffer, the first argument (i.e., image.flat<T().data()) is NULL. This then triggers the CHECKNOTNULL in the first line of png::WriteImageToBuffer. Since image is null, this results in abort being called after printing the stacktrace. Effectively, this allows an attacker to mount a denial of service attack. Patches We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 26eb323554ffccd173e8a79a8c05c15b685ae4d1. 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…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 3 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf

  2. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

  3. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-29531

Advisory: CHECK-fail in tf.raw_ops.EncodePng
IDs: CVE-2021-29531, GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-29531 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:26 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 2.0)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: tensorflow 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4; tensorflow-gpu 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4; tensorflow-cpu 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI tensorflow: affected < 2.1.4; >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3; >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3; >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2; fixed in 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4
- PyPI tensorflow-gpu: affected < 2.1.4; >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3; >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3; >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2; fixed in 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4
- PyPI tensorflow-cpu: affected < 2.1.4; >= 2.2.0, < 2.2.3; >= 2.3.0, < 2.3.3; >= 2.4.0, < 2.4.2; fixed in 2.4.2, 2.3.3, 2.2.3, 2.1.4

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show tensorflow`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.
- `python -m pip show tensorflow-gpu`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.
- `python -m pip show tensorflow-cpu`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on tensorflow, tensorflow-gpu, tensorflow-cpu.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf (OSV record GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf lists affected ranges: PyPI tensorflow >=0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 =0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 =0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 <2.4.2 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-3qxp-qjq7-w4hf lists affected ranges: PyPI tensorflow >=0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 =0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 =0 =2.2.0 =2.3.0 =2.4.0 <2.4.2)

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