VulnerabilityPublished 17 Sep 2020Updated 29 May 2025

CVE-2020-15187: helm · Use of Multiple Resources with Duplicate Identifier

Affects helmSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.0 Low : upgrade to 3.3.2 or 2.16.11 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.0Low

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 74% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.3.2, 2.16.11

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Sep 2020
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade helm/helm to 3.3.2 or 2.16.11.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubhelm/helm`pkg:github/helm/helm`Other threats	Affected <2.16.11 <3.3.2	Fixed in 2.16.11 3.3.2

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Upgrade Helm to versions 2.16.11 or later, or 3.3.2 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. 2) Ensure that all Helm plugins are installed exclusively over secure channels such as HTTPS or other SSL/TLS-encrypted protocols to prevent MITM attacks during plugin download. 3) Implement strict access controls on git repositories and plugin archives to prevent unauthorized write access. 4) Employ integrity verification mechanisms such as checksums or digital signatures for plugins before installation to detect tampering. 5) Monitor network traffic for unusual activity that could indicate MITM attempts or unauthorized access to plugin sources. 6) Educate DevOps and security teams about the risks of using outdated Helm versions and insecure plugin installation methods. 7) Integrate automated scanning tools in CI/CD pipelines to detect usage of vulnerable Helm versions or insecure plugin sources.

Description

In Helm before versions 2.16.11 and 3.3.2, a Helm plugin can contain duplicates of the same entry, with the last one always used. If a plugin is compromised, this lowers the level of access that an attacker needs to modify a plugin's install hooks, causing a local execution attack. To perform this attack, an attacker must have write access to the git repository or plugin archive (.tgz) while being downloaded (which can occur during a MITM attack on a non-SSL connection). This issue has been patched in Helm 2.16.11 and Helm 3.3.2. As a possible workaround make sure to install plugins using a secure connection protocol like SSL.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability is primarily related to the integrity of Kubernetes deployments managed via Helm. If exploited, an attacker could execute arbitrary code locally by modifying plugin install hooks, potentially leading to unauthorized changes in the Kubernetes environment. This could compromise deployment processes, introduce malicious configurations, or disrupt application behavior. However, the requirement for write access to the plugin source or archive and the need for a non-SSL connection during plugin installation reduce the likelihood of exploitation. Organizations relying heavily on Helm for Kubernetes package management, especially those using older versions or downloading plugins over unsecured channels, are at risk. The vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks, particularly in environments where internal network security is weak or where supply chain attacks are a concern. The impact on confidentiality is minimal, but the integrity of deployment pipelines and the trustworthiness of installed plugins could be compromised, potentially leading to further lateral movement or persistence within the infrastructure.

CWE-694Use of Multiple Resources with Duplicate Identifier (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product uses multiple resources that can have the same identifier, in a context in which unique identifiers are required.
Architecture and Design
Where possible, use unique identifiers. If non-unique identifiers are detected, then do not operate any resource with a non-unique identifier and report the error appropriately.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-74Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of a command, data structure, or record using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify how it is parsed or interpreted when it is sent to a downstream component.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Requirements
Programming languages and supporting technologies might be chosen which are not subject to these issues.
Implementation
Utilize an appropriate mix of allowlist and denylist parsing to filter control-plane syntax from all input.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Injection Prevention in Java (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables (opens in a new tab)
Server Side Include (SSI) Injection (opens in a new tab)
HTTP Request Splitting (opens in a new tab)
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Double Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 21:59 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-694, CWE-74

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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