pi-hole: Improper Ownership Management
CVE-2026-50130 is a high-severity improper ownership management vulnerability in pi-hole, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected pi-hole versions: >= 6.0.0, < 6.4.3. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.26% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of pi-hole you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. From 6.0 to 6.4.2, a user with code execution as the unprivileged pihole user can escalate to root by replacing /etc/pihole/logrotate. The replacement is laundered to root:root ownership by pihole-FTL-prestart.sh and then parsed as root by the daily pihole flush cron, executing firstaction shell as uid 0. This issue is fixed in version 6.4.3.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Ownership Management
The product assigns the wrong ownership, or does not properly verify the ownership, of an object or resource.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
More Improper Ownership Management vulnerabilities (CWE-282)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
- github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/security/advisories/GHSA-h8w9-qx2v-wrwwExploit, Mitigation
Patches and release notes
Other vulnerabilities in pi-hole
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
Recent Improper Ownership Management vulnerabilities
- 8.0 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.8 High severity
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