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TI-2025-33491 Aliases CVE-2025-53547GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm

Helm Chart Dependency Updating With Malicious Chart.yaml Content And Symlink Can Lead To Code Execution

Priority MEDIUM 40CWE-94Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 17 fixed, 7 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-94.

Summary

Helm is a package manager for Charts for Kubernetes. Prior to 3.18.4, a specially crafted Chart.yaml file along with a specially linked Chart.lock file can lead to local code execution when dependencies are updated. 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 issue has been resolved in Helm v3.18.4.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00494 42nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial helm (helm): 3.18.4helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go): 3.18.4, 3.17.4Red Hat: 20 advisoriesRed Hat: 17 fixed, 7 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
helmhelmbefore 3.18.43.18.4Patch availableCNA
—helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go)3.18.0-rc.1 to before 3.18.43.18.4Patch availableGHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm
—helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go)before 3.17.43.17.4Patch availableGHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm
  • helm Vendorhelm Affected before 3.18.4 Fixed in 3.18.4 Patch available CNA
  • helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected 3.18.0-rc.1 to before 3.18.4 Fixed in 3.18.4 Patch available GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm
  • helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 3.17.4 Fixed in 3.17.4 Patch available GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:helm:helm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 3.17.4; 3.18.0 to before 3.18.4Vulnerablehelm
  • cpe:2.3:a:helm:helm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 3.17.4; 3.18.0 to before 3.18.4 Vulnerable ·helm

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA helm (helm) Fixed in 3.18.4
  • Fix · GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go) Fixed in 3.18.4 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm helm.sh/helm/v3 (Go) Fixed in 3.17.4 Advisory →

Red Hat 20 advisories

  • RHSA-2026:67541 Released 2026-09-15 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes v2.15.7 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-prometheus-config-reloader-rhel9 +9
  • RHSA-2026:67540 Released 2026-09-15 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes v2.13.12 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-prometheus-config-reloader-rhel9 +5
  • RHSA-2026:56347 Released 2026-08-18 · Red Hat rating Important
    Migration Toolkit for Applications
    • Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8.2 registry.redhat.io/mta/mta-analyzer-addon-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/mta/mta-cli-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/mta/mta-discovery-addon-rhel9 +4
Show 17 more Red Hat advisories
  • RHSA-2026:2572 Released 2026-02-11 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes v2.14.2 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-cli-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/config-policy-controller-rhel9 +16
  • RHSA-2025:22684 Released 2025-12-03 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12.6 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-must-gather-rhel9 +5
  • RHSA-2025:19961 Released 2025-11-10 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12.6 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-cluster-permission-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-volsync-addon-controller-rhel9 +6
  • RHSA-2025:19335 Released 2025-10-30 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14.1 security update
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-cluster-permission-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9 +9
  • RHSA-2025:18242 Released 2025-10-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.13.61 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel8, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-sriov-network-operator
  • RHSA-2025:9562 Released 2025-10-21 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.20.0 bug fix and security update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/oc-mirror-plugin-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-agent-installer-api-server-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-agent-installer-node-agent-rhel9 +8
  • RHSA-2025:17672 Released 2025-10-16 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.12.81 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/metallb-rhel8-operator, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16161 Released 2025-09-25 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.15.58 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/metallb-rhel9-operator, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16166 Released 2025-09-25 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.14.57 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16535 Released 2025-09-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 ztp-site-generate container
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16530 Released 2025-09-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 ztp-site-generate container
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16529 Released 2025-09-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 ztp-site-generate container
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16527 Released 2025-09-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 ztp-site-generate container
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:16526 Released 2025-09-23 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 ztp-site-generate container
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ztp-site-generate-rhel8
  • RHSA-2025:15681 Released 2025-09-17 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.16.48 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel9
  • RHSA-2025:15345 Released 2025-09-10 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.17.39 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel9
  • RHSA-2025:14821 Released 2025-09-03 · Red Hat rating Important
    OpenShift Container Platform 4.18.23 security and extras update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 registry.redhat.io/openshift4/metallb-rhel9-operator, registry.redhat.io/openshift4/ose-operator-sdk-rhel9

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Deployment Validation OperatorAffectedNo fix yet
Migration Toolkit for Applications 7AffectedNo fix yet
Multicluster Engine for KubernetesAffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift GitOpsAffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Trusted Application PipelineAffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12Fixed RHSA-2025:19961
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12 for RHEL 9Fixed RHSA-2025:18744
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13Fixed RHSA-2026:67540
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 for RHEL 9Fixed RHSA-2025:16113
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14Fixed RHSA-2025:19335, RHSA-2026:2572
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15Fixed RHSA-2026:67541
Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8.2Fixed RHSA-2026:56347
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12Fixed RHSA-2025:17672
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13Fixed RHSA-2025:18242
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14Fixed RHSA-2025:16166, RHSA-2025:16526
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15Fixed RHSA-2025:16161
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16Fixed RHSA-2025:15681, RHSA-2025:16527
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17Fixed RHSA-2025:15345, RHSA-2025:16529
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18Fixed RHSA-2025:14821, RHSA-2025:16530
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19Fixed RHSA-2025:16535
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20Fixed RHSA-2025:9562
multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7 for RHEL 9Fixed RHSA-2025:18278
Not affected: 23 products
  • Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes
  • Multicluster Global Hub
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 2
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 3
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4
  • Red Hat Build of Kueue
  • Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8.2
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.17
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20
  • Red Hat OpenShift GitOps

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-53547
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm

References

Patch 1

Advisory 2

Other 2

  • TI-2024-16848 Dependency management path traversal in helm CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.4
  • TI-2026-45154 Helm Files.Lines Denial of Service via Empty Chart Files CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.3
  • TI-2023-10627 getHostByName Function Information Disclosure CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.3
  • TI-2019-15264 An issue was discovered in Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Helm through 3.13.3. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2019-13497 In Helm 2.x before 2.15.2, commands that deal with loading a chart as a directory or… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2019-16052 Improper certificate validation in helm CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
See all 28 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences