How severe is CVE-2022-36049?

CVE-2022-36049 has a CVSS score of 7.7/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-36049?

CVE-2022-36049 affects the following packages: github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller (Go), github.com/fluxcd/flux2 (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2022-36049?

Update github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller to 0.23.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-36049 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2022-36049 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-36049 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.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2022-36049?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-36049 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2022-36049 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2022-36049 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-2022-36049?

CVE-2022-36049 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.0%, placing it in the 58th 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.

When was CVE-2022-36049 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-36049 was published on September 7, 2022 and was last updated on March 14, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2022-36049: Flux2 Helm Controller denial of service (High 7…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk58th percentile+0.44%

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.

Blast Radius

2 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller🐹github.com/fluxcd/flux2

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

Flux2 is a tool for keeping Kubernetes clusters in sync with sources of configuration, and Flux's helm-controller is a Kubernetes operator that allows one to declaratively manage Helm chart releases. Helm controller is tightly integrated with the Helm SDK. A vulnerability found in the Helm SDK that affects flux2 v0.0.17 until v0.32.0 and helm-controller v0.0.4 until v0.23.0 allows for specific data inputs to cause high memory consumption. In some platforms, this could cause the controller to panic and stop processing reconciliations. In a shared cluster multi-tenancy environment, a tenant could create a HelmRelease that makes the controller panic, denying all other tenants from their Helm releases being reconciled. Patches are available in flux2 v0.32.0 and helm-controller v0.23.0.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller`	≥ 0.0.4&&< 0.23.0	0.23.0
🐹Go	`github.com/fluxcd/flux2`	≥ 0.0.17&&< 0.32.0	0.32.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller. 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 github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller to 0.23.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-36049 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-2022-36049 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-2022-36049. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Flux2 is a tool for keeping Kubernetes clusters in sync with sources of configuration, and Flux's helm-controller is a Kubernetes operator that allows one to declaratively manage Helm chart releases. Helm controller is tightly integrated with the Helm SDK. A vulnerability found in the Helm SDK that affects flux2 v0.0.17 until v0.32.0 and helm-controller v0.0.4 until v0.23.0 allows for specific data inputs to cause high memory consumption. In some platforms, this could cause the controller to panic and stop processing reconciliations. In a shared cluster multi-tenancy environment, a tenant coul

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2022-36049 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2022-36049 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2022-36049