How severe is CVE-2020-15187?

CVE-2020-15187 has a CVSS score of 4.7/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-15187?

CVE-2020-15187 affects the following packages: helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go), helm.sh/helm (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15187?

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-2020-15187 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-15187 in my Go dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-15187 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2020-15187 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-15187 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-15187?

CVE-2020-15187 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.5%, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-15187?

CVE-2020-15187 is classified as CWE-74 (CWE-74), CWE-694 (CWE-694). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2020-15187 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-15187 was published on September 17, 2020 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2020-15187 — helm

MEDIUMFix: helm/helm@6aab637

CVE-2020-15187 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.7) CWE-74 vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3. A fix is available for helm.sh/helm/v3 — see the affected versions and patch details below.

plugin.yaml file allows for duplicate entries in helm

Also known asBIT-helm-2020-15187GHSA-c52f-pq47-2r9j

Published

Sep 17, 2020

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 24, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs74th percentile — riskier than 74% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-15187 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐹helm.sh/helm/v3🐹helm.sh/helm

Real-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, Helm maintainers identified a bug in which a Helm plugin can contain duplicates of the same entry, with the last one always used. If a plugin is compromised, this lowers the level of access that an attacker needs to modify a plugin's install hooks, causing a local execution attack.

To perform this attack, an attacker must have write access to the git repository or plugin archive (.tgz) while being downloaded (which can occur during a MITM attack on a non-SSL connection).

Patches

This issue has been patched in Helm 2.16.11 and Helm 3.3.2.

Workarounds

Make sure to install plugins using a secure connection protocol like SSL.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`helm.sh/helm/v3`	≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.3.2	3.3.2`go get helm.sh/helm/v3@v3.3.2`
🐹Go	`helm.sh/helm`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.16.11	2.16.11`go get helm.sh/helm@v2.16.11`

Affected Products

1 product · 2 configurations

Application

helmhelm

≥ 3.0.0 && < 3.3.2

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
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-2020-15187 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact During a security audit of Helm's code base, Helm maintainers identified a bug in which a Helm plugin can contain duplicates of the same entry, with the last one always used. If a plugin is compromised, this lowers the level of access that an attacker needs to modify a plugin's install hooks, causing a local execution attack. To perform this attack, an attacker must have write access to the git repository or plugin archive (.tgz) while being downloaded (which can occur during a MITM attack on a non-SSL connection). ### Patches This issue has been patched in Helm 2.16.11 and Helm