TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. In affected versions TensorFlow and Keras can be tricked to perform arbitrary code execution when deserializing a Keras model from YAML format. The implementation uses yaml.unsafe_load which can perform arbitrary code execution on the input. Given that YAML format support requires a significant amount of work, we have removed it for now. We have patched the issue in GitHub commit 23d6383eb6c14084a8fc3bdf164043b974818012. The fix will be included in TensorFlow 2.6.0. We will also cherrypick this commit on TensorFlow 2.5.1, TensorFlow 2.4.3, and TensorFlow 2.3.4, as these are also affected and still in supported range.
CVE-2021-37678
This critical-severity CVE scores 9.3 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.5%, top 63% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 9.3
- EG Score
- 9.3(medium)
- EG Risk
- 62(Track*)EG Risk 62/100SSVC: Track*
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity93% × 45%Exploitation40% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend. - EPSS
- 36.7%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
August 12, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
Advisory Details (2)
Auto-updated Jul 17, 2026Arbitrary code execution due to YAML deserialization · Advisory · tensorflow/tensorflow · GitHub
https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/security/advisories/GHSA-r6jx-9g48-2r5rcommit 23d6383eb6c1 (tensorflow/tensorflow)
Patch available: tensorflow/tensorflow v2.13.0 (contains commit 23d6383eb6c1)
https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/commit/23d6383eb6c14084a8fc3bdf164043b974818012Affected Packages
(3 across 1 ecosystem)
PyPI(3)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| tensorflow | 2.3.0 ... 2.4.2 (7 versions) | 2.4.3 | — |
| tensorflow-cpu | 2.3.0 ... 2.4.2 (7 versions) | 2.4.3 | — |
| tensorflow-gpu | 2.3.0 ... 2.4.2 (7 versions) | 2.4.3 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 15× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-23 02:03 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:49 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 14:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-18 10:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 10:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 22:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-07 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 19:00 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-28 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:55 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 00:14 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 12:05 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- GitHub PoCfran-CICS/ExploitTensorflowCVE-2021-37678First seen Sep 9, 2021
TP Seguridad Informática UTN FRBA 2021
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-502
- CVE-2017-20208EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-20207EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-20206EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-20189EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-10992EG 9.8EPSS 95%CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-4521EG 9.8EPSS 90%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-1860EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2016-1000027EG 9.8EPSS 98%CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-3699EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-18605EG 9.8CRITICAL
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-37678?
When was CVE-2021-37678 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-37678 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-37678?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-37678?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2021-37678
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2021-37678?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.