CVE-2025-53547 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.5) remote code execution vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for helm.sh/helm/v3 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Helm Chart Dependency Updating With Malicious Chart.yaml Content And Symlink Can Lead To Code Execution
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-53547.
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-2025-53547 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 379,842 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/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
A Helm contributor discovered that a specially crafted Chart.yaml file along with a specially linked Chart.lock file can lead to local code execution when dependencies are updated.
Impact
Fields in a Chart.yaml file, that are carried over to a Chart.lock file when dependencies are updated and this file is written, can be crafted in a way that can cause execution if that same content were in a file that is executed (e.g., a bash.rc file or shell script). If the Chart.lock file is symlinked to one of these files updating dependencies will write the lock file content to the symlinked file. This can lead to unwanted execution. Helm warns of the symlinked file but did not stop execution due to symlinking.
This affects when dependencies are updated. When using the helm command this happens when helm dependency update is run. helm dependency build can write a lock file when one does not exist but this vector requires one to already exist. This affects the Helm SDK when the downloader Manager performs an update.
Patches
This issue has been resolved in Helm v3.18.4
Workarounds
Ensure the Chart.lock file in a chart is not a symlink prior to updating dependencies.
For more information
Helm's security policy is spelled out in detail in our SECURITY document.
Credits
Disclosed by Jakub Ciolek at AlphaSense.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm/v3 | ≥ 3.18.0-rc.1&&< 3.18.4 | 3.18.4go get helm.sh/helm/v3@v3.18.4 |
| 🐹Go | helm.sh/helm/v3 | all versions | 3.17.4go get helm.sh/helm/v3@v3.17.4 |
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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update helm.sh/helm/v3 to 3.18.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-53547 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-2025-53547 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-53547. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Although GitOps ships Helm, this product is not vulnerable to this vulnerability as ArgoCD doesn't use helm dependency update. Additionally ArgoCD scans the whole repository searching for symbolic links that eventually points to a out of bounds destination, this later feature ensures ArgoCD is not vulnerable for this…
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2025-53547 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 for RHEL 8 | multicluster-engine-assisted-service-8-container-v2.7.6-2 | RHSA-2025:18278 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 for RHEL 9 | acm-cli-container-v2.12.5-4 | RHSA-2025:18744 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 for RHEL 9 | acm-cli-container-v2.13.4-14 | RHSA-2025:16113 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 | rhacm2/acm-volsync-addon-controller-rhel9:v2.12 | RHSA-2025:19961 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 | rhacm2/acm-volsync-addon-controller-rhel9:v2.12 | RHSA-2025:22684 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 | rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9:1789126264 | RHSA-2026:67540 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 | rhacm2/acm-volsync-addon-controller-rhel9:v2.14 | RHSA-2025:19335 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 | rhacm2/multicloud-integrations-rhel9:1769720041 | RHSA-2026:2572 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-53547 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-53547 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.