CVE-2026-41489Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via unchecked service-hook path

Published May 11, 2026 · Updated May 11, 2026

Privilege escalation in Pi-hole Core 6.0 through 6.4.1 and FTL 6.0 through 6.6.0 allows local users to gain root access. The root-run prestart and poststop scripts accept files.pid from pihole-writable configuration without validation and pass it to install and rm -f. Reachability requires code execution as the pihole service account and a service restart; permitted root file writes can install an SSH authorized key.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Pi-hole Core 6.0 through 6.4.1 and FTL 6.0 through 6.6.0 allows local users to gain root access. The root-run prestart and poststop scripts accept files.pid from pihole-writable configuration without validation and pass it to install and rm -f. Reachability requires code execution as the pihole service account and a service restart; permitted root file writes can install an SSH authorized key.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-41489
Published
May 11, 2026
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
Pi-hole
Product
Pi-hole
Classifications
CWE-269, CWE-732, CWE-15, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 6.0, < 6.4.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Pi-hole · Pi-holeversion=>= 6.0, < 6.4.2

Published CVSS scores

8.8GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
CWE-15External Control of System or Configuration Setting
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo