Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-34087

RCE in Pi-Hole ≤ 3.3

Published
03 July 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 9.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.050 91th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-34087 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Pi-Hole Pi-Hole. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

An authenticated command injection vulnerability affects Pi-hole versions up to 3.3 in the legacy AdminLTE web interface. When a domain is added to the allowlist, the domain parameter is not sanitized, permitting an attacker to append operating system commands that execute with the privileges of the Pi-hole service user. The issue is tracked as CWE-78 and carries a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.0.

An attacker with a valid account on the web interface can supply a crafted domain string containing shell metacharacters. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary command execution on the underlying host, enabling full control over DNS filtering configuration and potential lateral movement or persistence within the network.

The vulnerability was addressed in the Pi-hole web interface release v4.0. Public references, including the Pulse Security advisory and the VulnCheck entry, recommend upgrading to a patched version and restricting administrative access to the web interface.

A Metasploit module for the flaw is publicly available, and the EPSS score has reached 0.7218.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An authenticated command injection vulnerability exists in Pi-hole versions up to 3.3. When adding a domain to the allowlist via the web interface, the domain parameter is not properly sanitized, allowing an attacker to append OS commands to the domain…

more

string. These commands are executed on the underlying operating system with the privileges of the Pi-hole service user. This behavior was present in the legacy AdminLTE interface and has since been patched in later versions.

CWE(s)

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.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2020-8816Same 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-2024-0292Shared CWE-78

Affected Assets

pi-hole
pi-hole
≤ 3.3

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.

Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.

Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.

Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.

Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.

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.

finds

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

References