CVE-2020-15186 | Improper sanitization of plugin names in Helm

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.

Published: 2020-09-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-15186 is rated Low Risk (34.2/100): CVSS Low severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.96%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-15186

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 0.23% 0.96% +0.73%
2 2025-10-31 0.34% 0.23% -0.11%
3 2025-10-29 — 0.34% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-15186

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.4 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful 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.
 1.6 1.4 [email protected]
2.7 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful 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.
 1.2 1.4 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-15186

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-15186

GHSA-m54r-vrmv-hw33 · Severity: low · Ecosystem: go — Improper Sanitizing of plugin names in helm

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-15186

vendor priority summary link
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-15186
suse low CVE-2020-15186 severity low: SUSE including 28 source package names (1.17.17:kubernetes-client-1.17.13-4.21.2, 1.17.17:kubernetes-common-1.17.13-4.21.2, …), 33 product×package rows across 12 product lines (Container caasp/v4/coredns, Container caasp/v4/etcd, … (12 product lines)): Fixed 31, Known Not Affected 2. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-15186/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-15186

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
helm helm >= 2.0.0, < 2.16.11 cpe:2.3:a:helm:helm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
helm helm >= 3.0.0, < 3.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:helm:helm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-15186

cvelogic Threat Intelligence