Plugin archive directory traversal in Helm

Description

The Helm core maintainers have identified an information disclosure
vulnerability in Helm 3.0.0-3.2.3.

Impact

A traversal attack is possible when installing Helm plugins from a tar
archive over HTTP. It is possible for a malicious plugin author to inject a relative
path into a plugin archive, and copy a file outside of the intended directory.

Traversal Attacks are a form of a Directory Traversal that can be exploited by
extracting files from an archive. The premise of the Directory Traversal
vulnerability is that an attacker can gain access to parts of the file system
outside of the target folder in which they should reside. The attacker can
then overwrite executable files and either invoke them remotely or wait for
the system or user to call them, thus achieving Remote Command Execution on
the victim's machine. The vulnerability can also cause damage by overwriting
configuration files or other sensitive resources, and can be exploited on both
client (user) machines and servers.

https://snyk.io/research/zip-slip-vulnerability

Specific Go Packages Affected

helm.sh/helm/v3/pkg/plugin/installer

Patches

This issue has been fixed in Helm 3.2.4

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
* Open an issue in the Helm repository
* For security-specific issues, email us at [email protected]

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
low
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2021-06-23 18:14:36 UTC
Updated
2024-02-13 16:33:08 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2021-05-24 20:57:17 UTC
NVD published
2020-06-16

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.41% 60.50%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
3.7 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Credits

  • snoopysecurity (analyst)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
go helm.sh/helm/v3 >= 3.0.0, < 3.2.4 3.2.4

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence