CVE-2026-76232: Renovate Helmv3 Manager RCE Vulnerability

CVE-2026-76232 Overview

CVE-2026-76232 is a command injection vulnerability in Renovate, an automated dependency update tool. Affected versions run from 31.51.0 up to but not including 40.33.0. The flaw resides in the helmv3 manager, which appends the repository parameter to helm registry login commands without sanitizing the input. Attackers with write access to a repository processed by Renovate can craft a malicious Chart.yaml file that injects arbitrary shell commands. Execution occurs on the machine running Renovate, which typically holds broad credentials for package registries and source control platforms. The issue is tracked under CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command.

Critical Impact
Arbitrary command execution on Renovate hosts, exposing registry credentials, Git tokens, and CI/CD secrets that Renovate uses to interact with upstream systems.

Affected Products

Renovate versions from 31.51.0 up to (but not including) 40.33.0
Self-hosted Renovate deployments processing repositories with helmv3 charts
CI/CD pipelines that run Renovate against untrusted or multi-tenant repositories

Discovery Timeline

2026-08-19 - CVE-2026-76232 published to NVD
2026-08-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-76232

Vulnerability Analysis

Renovate's helmv3 manager handles Helm chart dependencies declared in Chart.yaml and Chart.lock files. When Renovate encounters a private OCI or HTTPS Helm repository, it invokes helm registry login to authenticate before resolving chart versions. The repository URL taken from Chart.yaml is concatenated into the shell command string without escaping or validation. An attacker who can modify Chart.yaml embeds shell metacharacters such as backticks, $(), or ; in the repository field. Renovate then executes the crafted command as part of its normal dependency scan.

The attack is local from a CVSS perspective, but exploitation is straightforward in practice. Renovate typically runs in CI/CD systems or shared bot infrastructure with high privileges, so command execution translates directly into token theft and lateral movement across build systems, container registries, and downstream repositories.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing input neutralization on the repository field of Helm chart definitions. Renovate builds the helm registry login argument list by string concatenation rather than by passing the URL through a validator or a safe argument array. Because Helm accepts arbitrary strings in the repository field, the shell interprets any embedded metacharacters before Helm ever sees them.

Attack Vector

An attacker with write access to a repository monitored by Renovate commits a Chart.yaml that references a repository URL containing shell injection payloads. When Renovate next scans the repository, the injected commands execute in the context of the Renovate process. In shared Renovate bot deployments, this exposes credentials belonging to every tenant the bot serves. See the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-3f44-xw83-3pmg and the VulnCheck advisory for coordinated disclosure details.

yaml

# Reference: legitimate helmv3 lock file structure from the Renovate repository
# Source: https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/commit/f372a68144a4d78c9f7f418168e4efe03336a432
dependencies:
- name: renovate-test
  repository: oci://registry.gitlab.com/user/oci-helm-test
  version: 0.1.0
- name: repo-test
  repository: https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/xxxxxxx/packages/helm/stable
  version: 0.1.0
digest: sha256:886f204516ea48785fe615d22071d742f7fb0d6519ed3cd274f4ec0978d8b82b
generated: "2022-01-20T17:48:47.610371241+01:00"

The repository field above is the parameter that, prior to the patch, was passed unsanitized to helm registry login.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-76232

Indicators of Compromise

Chart.yaml or Chart.lock files containing repository URLs with shell metacharacters such as `, $(, ;, |, &, or newline characters.
Renovate worker processes spawning unexpected child processes such as sh, bash, curl, wget, or nc outside the normal helm and git toolchain.
Outbound network connections from Renovate hosts to destinations not associated with configured package registries or Git providers.

Detection Strategies

Scan monitored repositories for Chart.yaml files whose repository values fail a strict URL allow-list matching https:// or oci:// prefixes.
Audit Renovate execution logs for helm registry login invocations that include unusual characters in repository arguments.
Correlate CI/CD job logs with process telemetry to identify Renovate runs that produced non-Helm child processes.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable command-line auditing on hosts running Renovate and forward events to a centralized analytics platform.
Alert on new outbound connections from Renovate build agents to non-allowlisted destinations.
Track Renovate version inventory across self-hosted deployments and flag any instance below 40.33.0.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-76232

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Renovate to version 40.33.0 or later on all self-hosted deployments and CI/CD runners.
Rotate any credentials, tokens, and SSH keys that were accessible to Renovate hosts running vulnerable versions.
Review recent Renovate runs against repositories with helmv3 charts for signs of anomalous command execution.

Patch Information

The fix is delivered in Renovate 40.33.0. Vendor commits are available at renovatebot commit a70a6a37 and renovatebot commit f372a681. Consult the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-3f44-xw83-3pmg for full remediation guidance.

Workarounds

Restrict Renovate to trusted repositories with strict branch-protection and code-review requirements until the upgrade is complete.
Run Renovate under a dedicated, least-privileged service account with credentials scoped to a single tenant.
Execute Renovate inside ephemeral, isolated containers so that any command execution is contained and secrets are short-lived.

bash

# Pin the Renovate container image to a patched release
docker pull renovate/renovate:40.33.0

# Run Renovate with a scoped token and ephemeral filesystem
docker run --rm \
  --read-only \
  --tmpfs /tmp \
  -e RENOVATE_TOKEN="${SCOPED_GITHUB_TOKEN}" \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=debug \
  renovate/renovate:40.33.0