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Memory corruption in Tensorflow

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Sep 24, 2020 in tensorflow/tensorflow • Updated Feb 1, 2023

Package

pip tensorflow (pip)

Affected versions

= 2.2.0
= 2.3.0

Patched versions

2.2.1
2.3.1
pip tensorflow-cpu (pip)
= 2.2.0
= 2.3.0
2.2.1
2.3.1
pip tensorflow-gpu (pip)
= 2.2.0
= 2.3.0
2.2.1
2.3.1

Description

Impact

The implementation of dlpack.to_dlpack can be made to use uninitialized memory resulting in further memory corruption. This is because the pybind11 glue code assumes that the argument is a tensor:
https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/0e68f4d3295eb0281a517c3662f6698992b7b2cf/tensorflow/python/tfe_wrapper.cc#L1361

However, there is nothing stopping users from passing in a Python object instead of a tensor.

In [2]: tf.experimental.dlpack.to_dlpack([2])                                                                                                                                            
==1720623==WARNING: MemorySanitizer: use-of-uninitialized-value                                                                                                                            
    #0 0x55b0ba5c410a in tensorflow::(anonymous namespace)::GetTensorFromHandle(TFE_TensorHandle*, TF_Status*) third_party/tensorflow/c/eager/dlpack.cc:46:7
    #1 0x55b0ba5c38f4 in tensorflow::TFE_HandleToDLPack(TFE_TensorHandle*, TF_Status*) third_party/tensorflow/c/eager/dlpack.cc:252:26
...

The uninitialized memory address is due to a reinterpret_cast
https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/0e68f4d3295eb0281a517c3662f6698992b7b2cf/tensorflow/python/eager/pywrap_tensor.cc#L848-L850

Since the PyObject is a Python object, not a TensorFlow Tensor, the cast to EagerTensor fails.

Patches

We have patched the issue in 22e07fb204386768e5bcbea563641ea11f96ceb8 and will release a patch release for all affected versions.

We recommend users to upgrade to TensorFlow 2.2.1 or 2.3.1.

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 members of the Aivul Team from Qihoo 360.

References

@mihaimaruseac mihaimaruseac published to tensorflow/tensorflow Sep 24, 2020
Reviewed Sep 25, 2020
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Sep 25, 2020
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 25, 2020
Last updated Feb 1, 2023

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

0.151%
(52nd percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2020-15193

GHSA ID

GHSA-rjjg-hgv6-h69v

Source code

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