CVE-2026-41489CWE-15CWE-269CWE-732

Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation via config-controlled path in root-executed service hooks

High · published May 11, 2026

CVSS v3.1
8.8
EPSS
0%
Percentile
8.2
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. From 6.0 to before Core 6.4.2 and FTL 6.6.1, two shell scripts executed as root by systemd (pihole-FTL-prestart.sh and pihole-FTL-poststop.sh) read the files.pid path from this config without validation and use it in privileged file operations (install and rm -f). By writing an arbitrary path into files.pid, an attacker with pihole privilege can cause root to delete and then recreate any file on the system outside the ProtectSystem=full-restricted directories, gaining write access to it. On a default Pi-hole installation this yields local privilege escalation to root via SSH authorized keys manipulation. If /root/.ssh/authorized_keys does not exist (default on fresh installs), only ExecStartPre is required. If the file exists, ExecStopPost deletes it first, and the same restart triggers both hooks in sequence. This vulnerability is fixed in Core 6.4.2 and FTL 6.6.1.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
8.8 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00190 · 8.2th percentile
Weaknesses
CWE-15 · External Control of System or Configuration Setting; CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management; CWE-732 · Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
Published
2026-05-11T20:21Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 11 MAY 20:21Z
    Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation via config-controlled path in root-executed service hooks
    cvelistv5