CVE-2025-53547Helm Chart Dependency Updating With Malicious Chart.yaml Content And Symlink Can Lead To Code Execution
- 8.5HighCVSS base score
- 0.53%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 54% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
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.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 6 days later
· 6 days later
Published
- 8 months later
· 8 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.6 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.53% · top 54% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.5.
Affected products
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- Gohelm.sh/helm/v3GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm (opens in a new tab)
References
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2025-20751 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-557j-xg8c-q2mm (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2025-53547)Record last updated .