CVE-2021-37678
Arbitrary code execution due to YAML deserialization
- Published
- Aug 12, 2021
- Updated
- Aug 4, 2024
- Assigning CNA
- GitHub_M
- Evidence observed
- Aug 8, 2026
Primary CVSS
nvd · CVSS 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HLow · next 30 days
- Percentile
- 38.2%
- Model date
- Sep 21, 2026
EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a certainty or a measure of impact. Combine it with CVSS, KEV status, exposure and your environment.
Summary
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](https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow/blob/460e000de3a83278fb00b61a16d161b1964f15f4/tensorflow/python/keras/saving/model_config.py#L66-L104) 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.
Sources
1TP Seguridad Informática UTN FRBA 2021
Responsible use
Use vulnerability information only on systems you own or are authorized to test. Kitploit links to public research metadata and does not store exploit code or malicious payloads.