---
id: "CVE-2026-119336"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-119336"]
title: "Pi-hole: root cron job follows symlinks, letting pihole user truncate root files"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.8
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["dns", "infrastructure", "linux", "pi-hole", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["no-local-pihole-user-access", "version-6.5-or-later"]
published_at: "2026-10-30T20:17:08+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-30T20:25:38+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-30T20:26:30+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119336", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-30T20:25:38+00:00"}]
---

# Pi-hole: root cron job follows symlinks, letting pihole user truncate root files

Pi-hole versions 6.4.2 up to 6.5 run a root cron job that truncates and chmods /etc/pihole/versions while following symbolic links in a directory the pihole user owns. A local attacker running as the pihole user can use a symlink to truncate or create arbitrary root-owned files, or make a sensitive file world-readable.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the installed Pi-hole version with `pihole -v` and confirm whether it is at least `6.5`.
- On a Pi-hole host, check whether `/etc/pihole/versions` is a symbolic link or whether its parent directory is writable by the `pihole` user.

## Fix

- Pi-hole: move to version `6.5` or later.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-30T20:25:38+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119336

## From the sources

Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. From 6.4.2 until 6.5, the root-run advanced/Scripts/updatecheck.sh cron job applies truncate -s 0 and chmod 644 to /etc/pihole/versions while following symbolic links in a directory owned by the pihole user. An attacker executing as pihole can replace that path with a symlink so the scheduled root operations truncate or create an arbitrary root-owned file, or race the operations so chmod makes a sensitive target world-readable without truncating it. This issue is fixed in version 6.5.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_