CVE-2020-15184 is a low-severity (CVSS 2.7) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3. A fix is available for helm.sh/helm/v3 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Aliases are never checked in helm
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-15184 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
helm.sh/helm/v3🐹helm.sh/helmReal-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
Impact
During a security audit of Helm's code base, security researchers at Trail of Bits identified a bug in which the alias field on a Chart.yaml is not properly sanitized. This could lead to the injection of unwanted information into a chart.
Patches
This issue has been patched in Helm 3.3.2 and 2.16.11
Specific Go Packages Affected
helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/chartutil
Workarounds
Manually review the dependencies field of any untrusted chart, verifying that the alias field is either not used, or (if used) does not contain newlines or path characters.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm/v3 | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.3.2 | 3.3.2go get helm.sh/helm/v3@v3.3.2 |
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm | all versions | 2.16.11go get helm.sh/helm@v2.16.11 |
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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update helm.sh/helm/v3 to 3.3.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-15184 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2020-15184 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2020-15184. 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-2020-15184 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2020-15184 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.