Improper Sanitizing of plugin names in helm

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

3.4 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2020-15186: 0.96% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 61.68 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact Security researchers at Trail of Bits discovered that plugin names are not sanitized properly. As a result, a malicious plugin author could use characters in a plugin name that would result in unexpected behavior, such as duplicating the name of another plugin or spoofing the output to helm --help. Specific Go Packages Affected helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/plugin Patches This issue has been patched in Helm 3.3.2. Workarounds Do not install untrusted Helm plugins. Examine the name field in the plugin.yaml file for a plugin, looking for characters outside of the [a-zA-Z0-9.-] range.

Published by the source

24 May 2021, 16:57 UTC

Last modified by the source

2 Oct 2023, 14:09 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:59 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2020-15186

Advisory: Improper Sanitizing of plugin names in helm
IDs: CVE-2020-15186, GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2020-15186 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:59 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 3.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: helm.sh/helm/v3 3.3.2; helm.sh/helm 2.16.11. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go helm.sh/helm/v3: affected >= 3.0.0, < 3.3.2; fixed in 3.3.2
- Go helm.sh/helm: affected < 2.16.11; fixed in 2.16.11

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go helm.sh/helm/v3: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go helm.sh/helm: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on helm.sh/helm/v3, helm.sh/helm.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33 lists affected ranges: Go helm.sh/helm/v3 >=3.0.0 =0 <2.16.11)

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