CVE-2026-119335
Pi-hole: Local privilege escalation from `pihole` user to root via CVE-2026-41489 fix bypass
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.
Fixes and workarounds
Fix
pi-hole (other): GitHub reports patched versions 6.5. Check the advisory for the affected release branch.
Source: GitHub GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398Affected products and versions
| Product | Versions | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| pi-hole pi-hole |
< 6.5 (affected) | CNA: GitHub_M |
pi-holepi-hole
other |
<= 6.4.3 (affected, GitHub advisory range) | GitHub GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398 |
Version ranges are source assertions. Check the vendor advisory and your installed configuration before determining exposure.
CVSS assessments
| Version / score | Vector | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 / 7.8 high |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | CNA: GitHub_M |
| 3.1 / 7.8 high |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD: [email protected] |
Exploit evidence
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398
exploit · ADP: CISA-ADP
References
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398CNA: GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/pull/6719CNA: GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/commit/555dd4d8b3699327fbba482bb73cce5f53979bd1CNA: GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/releases/tag/v6.5CNA: GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398ADP: CISA-ADP · exploit
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/commit/555dd4d8b3699327fbba482bb73cce5f53979bd1[email protected]
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/pull/6719[email protected]
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/releases/tag/v6.5[email protected]
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398[email protected]
- https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-cf36-4hhc-8398GitHub Security Advisories · advisory
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