CVE-2021-32690

While working on the Helm source, a Helm core maintainer discovered a situation where the username and password credentials associated with a Helm repository could be passed on to another domain referenced by that Helm repository.

Workarounds

If you use a username and password for a Helm repository you can audit the Helm repository in order to check for another domain being used that could have received the credentials. In the index.yaml file for that repository, look for another domain in the urls list for the chart versions. If there is another domain found and that chart version was pulled or installed the credentials would have been passed on.

For more information

Helm's security policy is spelled out in detail in our SECURITY document.

The index.yaml within a Helm chart repository contains a reference where to get the chart archive for each version of a chart. The reference can be relative to the index.yaml file or a URL to location. The URL can point to any domain and this is a feature leveraged by Helm users. For example, an index.yaml file can be hosted on GitHub pages while the chart archives are hosted as GitHub releases. These are on different domain names and the index.yaml file points to the other domain.

When a username and password were associated with a Helm repository the username and password were also passed on to other domains referenced in the index.yaml file. This occurred when Helm went to retrieve a specific chart archive on the other domain.

Kodem intelligence

This issue has been resolved in 3.6.1.

There is a slight behavior change to credential handling with regard to repositories. Usernames and passwords are only passed to the URL location of the Helm repository by default. The username and password are scoped to the scheme, host, and port of the Helm repository. To pass the username and password to other domains Helm may encounter when it goes to retrieve a chart, the new --pass-credentials flag can be used. This flag restores the old behavior for a single repository as an opt-in behavior.

1. What is CVE-2021-32690? CVE-2021-32690 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in helm.sh/helm/v3 (go), affecting versions < 3.6.1. It is fixed in 3.6.1.
2. Which versions of helm.sh/helm/v3 are affected by CVE-2021-32690? helm.sh/helm/v3 (go) versions < 3.6.1 is affected.
3. Is there a fix for CVE-2021-32690? Yes. CVE-2021-32690 is fixed in 3.6.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
4. Is CVE-2021-32690 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-32690 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
5. What actually determines whether CVE-2021-32690 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
6. How do I fix CVE-2021-32690? Upgrade helm.sh/helm/v3 to 3.6.1 or later.