GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm is a high-severity (CVSS 8.5) Code Injection 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 vulnerable to Code Injection through malicious chart.yaml content
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 GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
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 |
Affected Products
helmhelmResearch 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 GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
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 GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm (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 GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.