---
license: mit
tags:
  - security
  - vulnerability
  - openvino
  - tflite
  - heap-overflow
---

# PoC: OpenVINO TFLite Sparse Tensor OOB Write (SIGSEGV + SIGABRT)

## Summary

A malicious TFLite model with crafted sparse tensor metadata triggers an out-of-bounds write via unchecked indices in the sparsity decompression code, causing SIGSEGV or SIGABRT.

**Confirmed on OpenVINO 2025.4.1** — crash on model load.

## Root Cause

`sparsity_info.cpp:43` — sparse tensor indices from the TFLite flatbuffer are used to write into the dense output buffer without any bounds checking. FlatBuffers does not perform bounds checking on vector access in release builds.

## Files

- `malicious_sparse.tflite` — crafted TFLite model (552 bytes)
- `poc_tflite_sparse_oob.py` — PoC generator script

## Reproduction

```bash
pip install openvino
python -c "
import openvino as ov
core = ov.Core()
model = core.read_model('malicious_sparse.tflite')
"
# Expected: SIGSEGV or SIGABRT
```

## Affected Versions

All OpenVINO versions with TFLite frontend support.