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TI-2026-83379 Aliases CVE-2026-119335

Pi-hole local privilege escalation to root via PID file check bypass

Priority HIGH 69CWE-78Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-78.

Summary

Pi-hole before 6.5 contains a command injection flaw (CWE-78) in the getFTLPID() function of advanced/Scripts/utils.sh. Its check on the PID file rejects only values whose first character is not a digit, so a digit-prefixed arithmetic expression passes. A local attacker with code execution as the pihole user can write such a value to the PID file, and root-run pihole subcommands then execute attacker-chosen commands as root.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05

Description from the CNA

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.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00228 13th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed pi-hole (pi-hole): 6.5

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
Pi-holepi-holebefore 6.56.5Patch availableCNA
  • pi-hole VendorPi-hole Affected before 6.5 Fixed in 6.5 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:pi-hole:pi-hole:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Pi-hole
  • cpe:2.3:a:pi-hole:pi-hole:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Pi-hole

Remediation

Update pi-hole to version 6.5, which fixes this issue.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05

  • Fix · CNA pi-hole (pi-hole) Fixed in 6.5

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-119335
  2. 2026-11-01 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
  3. 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  4. 2026-11-05 Priority changed: LOW → HIGH

References

Other 4

  • TI-2020-07073 Pi-hole Web v4.3.2 (aka AdminLTE) allows Remote Code Execution by privileged dashboard… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
  • TI-2020-08981 The Gravity updater in Pi-hole through 4.4 allows an authenticated adversary to upload… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-36901 Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation from `pihole` user to root via `/etc/pihole/logrotate` CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-32584 Pi-hole FTL: Unauthenticated Session Hijacking via Race Condition on Global Session Buffer CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-30076 Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation via config-controlled path in root-executed service hooks CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-28731 Pi-hole FTL remote code execution via newline injection in dns.interface configuration CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
See all 47 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences