CVE-2020-11013 | lookup Function Information Discolosure in Helm

Exp

Their is an information disclosure vulnerability in Helm from version 3.1.0 and before version 3.2.0. `lookup` is a Helm template function introduced in Helm v3. It is able to lookup resources in the cluster to check for the existence of specific resources and get details about them. This can be used as part of the process to render templates. The documented behavior of `helm template` states that it does not attach to a remote cluster. However, a the recently added `lookup` template function circumvents this restriction and connects to the cluster even during `helm template` and `helm install|update|delete|rollback --dry-run`. The user is not notified of this behavior. Running `helm template` should not make calls to a cluster. This is different from `install`, which is presumed to have access to a cluster in order to load resources into Kubernetes. Helm 2 is unaffected by this vulnerability. A malicious chart author could inject a `lookup` into a chart that, when rendered through `helm template`, performs unannounced lookups against the cluster a user's `KUBECONFIG` file points to. This information can then be disclosed via the output of `helm template`. This issue has been fixed in Helm 3.2.0

Published: 2020-04-24 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-11013 is rated High Exploit Risk (73/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.26%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +1.05% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-11013

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-11013

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.21% 1.26% +1.05%
2 2026-02-01 0.27% 0.21% -0.06%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.27% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-11013

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.1 4.7 [email protected]
5.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.1 1.4 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-11013

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-11013

GHSA-q8q8-93cv-v6h8 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: go — Lookup function information discolosure in helm

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-11013

vendor priority summary link
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-11013
ubuntu low CVE-2020-11013 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (helm), 17 status rows across 17 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 9, needs-triage 7, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-11013

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-11013

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
helm helm >= 3.1.0, < 3.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:helm:helm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-11013

cvelogic Threat Intelligence