CVE-2020-4053 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.8) Path Traversal vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-4053 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Plugin archive directory traversal 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
In Helm greater than or equal to 3.0.0 and less than 3.2.4, a path traversal attack is possible when installing Helm plugins from a tar archive over HTTP. It is possible for a malicious plugin author to inject a relative path into a plugin archive, and copy a file outside of the intended directory. This has been fixed in 3.2.4.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm/v3 | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.2.4 | 3.2.4 |
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 3.2.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-4053 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-2020-4053 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-2020-4053. 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-2020-4053 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2020-4053 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.