Helm May Panic Due To Incorrect YAML Content
Date: 2025-08
Affected: go/helm.sh/helm/v3
Attack vector: other
Category: vulnerability-disclosure
Severity: Medium
CVE: CVE-2025-55198
CWE: CWE-908
CVSS: 6.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

A Helm contributor discovered an improper validation of type error when parsing Chart.yaml and index.yaml files that can lead to a panic. ### Impact There are two areas of YAML validation that were impacted. First, when a `Chart.yaml` file had a `null` maintainer or the `child` or `parent` of a dependencies `import-values` could be parsed as something other than a string, `helm lint` would panic. Second, when an `index.yaml` had an empty entry in the list of chart versions Helm would panic on interactions with that repository. ### Patches This issue has been resolved in Helm v3.18.5. ### Workarounds Ensure YAML files are formatted as Helm expects prior to processing them with Helm. ### References Helm's security policy is spelled out in detail in our [SECURITY](https://github.com/helm/community/blob/master/SECURITY.md) document. ### Credits Disclosed by Jakub Ciolek at AlphaSense.


Mitigations:

Architectural layers (MAESTRO):