Local Path Provisioner Vulnerable to HelperPod Template Injection

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2026-44543: 0.41% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 35.29 (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 A malicious user with permission to edit the local-path-config ConfigMap in the local-path-storage namespace can manipulate the helperPod.yaml template used by rancher/local-path-provisioner. The helperPod.yaml template is loaded by the provisioner and used to create HelperPods during PVC provisioning and cleanup operations. However, the template is not sufficiently validated before use. Security-sensitive fields such as securityContext.privileged, hostPath volumes, and Linux capabilities can be injected into the template. Example malicious HelperPod template: ~~~yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: helper-pod spec: containers: - name: helper-pod image: docker.io/kindest/local-path-helper:v20230510-486859a6 imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent securityContext: privileged: true volumeMounts: - name: host-root mountPath: /host volumes: - name: host-root hostPath: path: / type: Directory ~~~ When a PVC operation triggers HelperPod creation, the provisioner creates the HelperPod…

Published by the source

11 May 2026, 16:15 UTC

Last modified by the source

9 Jun 2026, 02:00 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:23 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-7fxv-8wr2-mfc4

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-44543

Advisory: Local Path Provisioner Vulnerable to HelperPod Template Injection
IDs: CVE-2026-44543, GHSA-7fxv-8wr2-mfc4
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-44543 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:23 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/rancher/local-path-provisioner 0.0.36. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/rancher/local-path-provisioner: affected < 0.0.36; fixed in 0.0.36

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/rancher/local-path-provisioner: 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 github.com/rancher/local-path-provisioner.
- 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-7fxv-8wr2-mfc4 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7fxv-8wr2-mfc4 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/rancher/local-path-provisioner >=0 <0.0.36)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.