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CVE-2020-4053· NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

Path Traversal in Helm Plugin Archive

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 27/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 73% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. Administrator privileges are required. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: The Helm Project Helm 3.2.4.
  • Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 3.7, NVD 6.8.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to The Helm Project Helm 3.2.4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

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.

MediumCVSS 6.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jun 16, 2020
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.4% · 73th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

27

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
27 / 40 · 6.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.4%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.8
CNA · GitHub_M
3.7
3.1 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
helmhelm

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • helm helm3.0.0 and later · before 3.2.4

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • The Helm Project Helm

    • >= 3.0.0, < 3.2.4affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Gohelm.sh/helm/v3from 3.0.0 · before 3.2.43.2.4

Same product

helm: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2019-18658In Helm 2.x before 2.15.2, commands that deal with loading a chart as a directory or packaging a chart provide an opportunity for a maliciou
    40Plan
  • CVE-2019-1010275helm Before 2.7.2 is affected by: CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation.
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2025-53547Helm Chart Dependency Updating With Malicious Chart.yaml Content And Symlink Can Lead To Code Execution
    34Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2019-1000008Feb 4, 2019 · All versions of Helm between Helm >=2.0.0 and < 2.12.2 contains a CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-11013Apr 24, 2020 · lookup Function Information Discolosure in Helm
    20Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2020-15184Sep 17, 2020 · Aliases are never checked in Helm
    10Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
The Helm Project Helm3.2.4 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
Go:helm.sh/helm/v33.2.4Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

ts
const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {  return res.sendStatus(400);}res.sendFile(file);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records