Helm vulnerable to Code Injection through malicious chart.yaml content

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2025-53547: 0.49% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 42.45 (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.

A Helm contributor discovered that a specially crafted Chart.yaml file along with a specially linked Chart.lock file can lead to local code execution when dependencies are updated. Impact Fields in a Chart.yaml file, that are carried over to a Chart.lock file when dependencies are updated and this file is written, can be crafted in a way that can cause execution if that same content were in a file that is executed (e.g., a bash.rc file or shell script). If the Chart.lock file is symlinked to one of these files updating dependencies will write the lock file content to the symlinked file. This can lead to unwanted execution. Helm warns of the symlinked file but did not stop execution due to symlinking. This affects when dependencies are updated. When using the helm command this happens when helm dependency update is run. helm dependency build can write a lock file when one does not exist but this vector requires one to already exist. This affects the Helm SDK when the downloader…

Published by the source

8 Jul 2025, 23:20 UTC

Last modified by the source

16 Jul 2025, 21:10 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:09 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2025-53547

Advisory: Helm vulnerable to Code Injection through malicious chart.yaml content
IDs: CVE-2025-53547, GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2025-53547 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:09 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.5)
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 3.18.4, 3.17.4. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go helm.sh/helm/v3: affected >= 3.18.0-rc.1, < 3.18.4; < 3.17.4; fixed in 3.18.4, 3.17.4

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go helm.sh/helm/v3: 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.
- 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-557j-xg8c-q2mm (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm lists affected ranges: Go helm.sh/helm/v3 >=3.18.0-rc.1 =0 <3.17.4)

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