CVE-2020-15187 Duplicate plugin entries in Helm

What is CVE-2020-15187?

CVE-2020-15187 is a low-severity vulnerability in helm, published on 17 Sep 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

In Helm before versions 2.16.11 and 3.3.2, a Helm plugin can contain duplicates of the same entry, with the last one always used. If a plugin is compromised, this lowers the level of access that an attacker needs to modify a plugin's install hooks, causing a local execution attack. To perform this attack, an attacker must have write access to the git repository or plugin archive (.tgz) while being downloaded (which can occur during a MITM attack on a non-SSL connection). This issue has been patched in Helm 2.16.11 and Helm 3.3.2. As a possible workaround make sure to install plugins using a secure connection protocol like SSL.

Weakness: CWE-74, CWE-694

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15187?

5 open source packages ship an affected version, including helm.sh/helm, helm and helm.sh/helm/v3. It affects 1 product.

Products include Helm Helm.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15187?

Upgrade helm.sh/helm to 2.16.11 or later.

Is CVE-2020-15187 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15187 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in helm

• CVE-2019-18658 Helm Unsafe Link Following Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-1010275 Helm Improper Certificate Validation Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-25210 Information disclosure in n/a Critical 9.1
• CVE-2025-53547 Helm Chart Dependency Updating With Malicious Chart.yaml Content And Symlink Can Lead To Code Execution High 8.5
• CVE-2020-11013 lookup Function Information Discolosure in Helm High 8.5

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as BIT-helm-2020-15187, GHSA-c52f-pq47-2r9j.