Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation from `pihole` user to root via CVE-2026-41489 fix bypass
Affects Pi-hole versions before 6.5, where the pihole user can write a PID file that root-run pihole subcommands read. Fixed in 6.5.
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Specific setups only
- Fix
- Fixed in 6.5
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
Pi-hole, a DNS sinkhole used to block unwanted content on networks, is affected before version 6.5. An attacker who already has code execution as the low-privilege pihole user can abuse a flawed PID-file check to run commands as root, fully compromising the host.
Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.
Read the original description
Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. Prior to 6.5, advanced/Scripts/utils.sh getFTLPID() attempts to validate the pihole-owned /run/pihole-FTL.pid file with expr "${FTL_PID}" : "[^[:digit:]]", but this rejects only values whose first character is not a digit. An attacker with code execution as the pihole user can write a digit-prefixed arithmetic expression to the pihole-owned PID file. Root-run pihole subcommands then evaluate [[ "$pid" -eq "-1" ]], causing Bash to recursively evaluate array subscripts and execute command substitution as root. This bypasses the content-validation portion of the CVE-2026-41489 remediation while leaving its hardcoded PID-file path protection intact. This issue is fixed in version 6.5.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- pi-hole pi-hole
fixed in 6.5
References 4
GitHub · pi-hole/pi-hole
Questions about CVE-2026-119335
What does this mean?
A local user running as the pihole account can escalate privileges and run arbitrary commands as root. The PID file is owned by pihole, so that account can write to it, and a root-run pihole subcommand that reads the file afterward is the route to root.Source: github.com
Am I affected, and how do I check?
Pi-hole versions before 6.5 are in the affected range. The condition depends on a PID file owned by pihole:pihole and a root-run pihole subcommand, such as reloaddns, that reads it after it is modified. Running pihole -v shows the installed version.Source: github.com
What should I do about it?
Upgrade Pi-hole to version 6.5 or later, which is the fixed release listed for this issue.Source: github.com
Is it being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data