---
id: CVE-2021-37692
aliases:
  - GHSA-cmgw-8vpc-rc59
  - BIT-tensorflow-2021-37692
  - PYSEC-2021-314
  - PYSEC-2021-605
  - PYSEC-2021-803
title: 'Segfault on strings tensors with mistmatched dimensions, due to Go code'
summary: 'Segfault on strings tensors with mistmatched dimensions, due to Go code'
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
vendor: tensorflow
product: tensorflow
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - 'tensorflow >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1'
  - 'tensorflow-cpu >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1'
  - 'tensorflow-gpu >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1'
patched:
  - tensorflow 2.5.1
  - tensorflow-cpu 2.5.1
  - tensorflow-gpu 2.5.1
published: '2021-08-25'
updated: '2026-07-08'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-cmgw-8vpc-rc59'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-cmgw-8vpc-rc59
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-37692'
  - url: 'https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/pull/50508'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/8721ba96e5760c229217b594f6d2ba332beedf22
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-cpu/PYSEC-2021-605.yaml
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow-gpu/PYSEC-2021-803.yaml
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/tensorflow/PYSEC-2021-314.yaml
  - url: 'https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
epss: 0.00172
epssPercentile: 0.05856
ingestedAt: '2026-07-08T18:25:48.413Z'
---

## Overview

### Impact
Under certain conditions, Go code can trigger a segfault in string deallocation.


For string tensors, `C.TF_TString_Dealloc` is called during garbage collection within a finalizer function.  However, tensor structure isn't checked until encoding to avoid a performance penalty.  The current method for dealloc assumes that encoding succeeded, but segfaults when a string tensor is garbage collected whose encoding failed (e.g., due to mismatched dimensions).

To fix this, the call to set the finalizer function is deferred until `NewTensor` returns and, if encoding failed for a string tensor, deallocs are determined based on bytes written.

### Patches
We have patched the issue in GitHub commit [8721ba96e5760c229217b594f6d2ba332beedf22](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/8721ba96e5760c229217b594f6d2ba332beedf22) (merging [#50508](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/pull/50508)).

The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, which is the other affected version.                                                                                                                                               

### For more information
Please consult [our security guide](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/master/SECURITY.md) for more information regarding the security model and how to contact us with issues and questions.

### Attribution
This vulnerability has been reported externally via a [fixing PR](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/pull/50508).

## Affected packages

- `tensorflow >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1`
- `tensorflow-cpu >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1`
- `tensorflow-gpu >= 2.5.0rc0, < 2.5.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `tensorflow 2.5.1`
- `tensorflow-cpu 2.5.1`
- `tensorflow-gpu 2.5.1`