CVE-2020-11013
MEDIUMCVE-2020-11013 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) Information Exposure vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-11013 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Lookup function information discolosure in helm
Real-World Exposure
helm.sh/helm/v3Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Their is an information disclosure vulnerability in Helm from version 3.1.0 and before version 3.2.0. lookup is a Helm template function introduced in Helm v3. It is able to lookup resources in the cluster to check for the existence of specific resources and get details about them. This can be used as part of the process to render templates. The documented behavior of helm template states that it does not attach to a remote cluster. However, a the recently added lookup template function circumvents this restriction and connects to the cluster even during helm template and helm install|update|delete|rollback --dry-run. The user is not notified of this behavior. Running helm template should not make calls to a cluster. This is different from install, which is presumed to have access to a cluster in order to load resources into Kubernetes. Helm 2 is unaffected by this vulnerability. A malicious chart author could inject a lookup into a chart that, when rendered through helm template, performs unannounced lookups against the cluster a user's KUBECONFIG file points to. This information can then be disclosed via the output of helm template. This issue has been fixed in Helm 3.2.0
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm/v3 | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.1.3 | 3.1.3 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for helm.sh/helm/v3. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update helm.sh/helm/v3 to 3.1.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-11013 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-11013 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2020-11013. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-11013 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-11013 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.