Cyber Resilience

CVE-2020-8816

RCE in Pi-Hole ≤ 4.3.2

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRCECommand Injection
Published
29 May 2020
Modified
10 November 2025
KEV Added
10 December 2021
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.78 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 79 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2020-8816 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Pi-Hole Pi-Hole. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Pi-hole Web version 4.3.2, also known as AdminLTE, contains an OS command injection vulnerability tracked as CVE-2020-8816 and CWE-78. The flaw resides in the handling of DHCP static lease entries on the administrative dashboard and permits remote code execution when an attacker supplies a specially crafted MAC address or hostname value.

An authenticated user with dashboard privileges can exploit the issue over the network by submitting a malicious static lease through the web interface. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary operating-system commands, resulting in complete control over the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected Pi-hole instance.

The project addressed the vulnerability in release 4.3.3; the corresponding fix is documented in pull request 1165 and the associated commit history on the AdminLTE repository. Public exploit code demonstrating both the DHCP lease injection and full remote code execution has been published on Packet Storm.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Pi-hole Web v4.3.2 (aka AdminLTE) allows Remote Code Execution by privileged dashboard users via a crafted DHCP static lease.

CWE(s)
CWE-78
KEV Date Added
10 December 2021

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-34087Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2021-32706Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2020-11108Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2024-34361Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2024-44069Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2024-28247Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2026-33727Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2026-33765Same vendor: Pi-Hole
CVE-2026-50130Same product: Pi-Hole Pi-Hole
CVE-2023-39780Shared CWE-78both on KEV

Affected Assets

pi-hole
pi-hole
≤ 4.3.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References