Pi-hole is one of the most popular tools in home networking: install it on a Raspberry Pi, point your devices at it for DNS, and you can block unwanted domains while watching DNS activity across your network. But Pi-hole also handles network requests and runs an administrative interface full of sensitive information, and a few careless choices can turn it from a privacy win into a security liability.
Pi-hole dashboard (Credits: How-To Geek)
The core warning is simple. Do not assume that a device built to block ads needs less protection than a NAS, a firewall or a server. If anything, it needs more, because it sees where every device on your network goes online.
Pi-hole mistakes: exposing the dashboard and DNS to the internet
The biggest mistake is port forwarding the Pi-hole admin dashboard to the internet. That dashboard can reveal DNS query history, client devices and blocking statistics, which together paint a detailed picture of your household’s browsing habits. A strong password helps, but it cannot protect against every software flaw or authentication bypass.
If you want to check Pi-hole while travelling, use a VPN instead. Tools like WireGuard and Tailscale let you connect to your home network privately and reach the dashboard without making it publicly accessible. You get the same remote control with far less exposure.
A second, equally serious mistake is running an open DNS resolver. Pi-hole needs to accept DNS requests from the devices it serves, but its Permit all origins setting allows queries from anywhere. Combined with public access to port 53, that can let attackers abuse your server for DNS amplification attacks, where spoofed requests trick your resolver into flooding a victim with traffic. For a normal home setup, Pi-hole should accept requests only from the networks it needs to serve, with firewall rules restricting port 53 and your router confirmed not to expose the resolver.
Pi-hole security checklist: passwords, updates and access
A third mistake is running Pi-hole without an administrator password. It feels convenient on a trusted network, but it removes an important layer of protection, and that matters more than it used to. In 2026, a newline-injection flaw affecting Pi-hole’s FTL component reportedly allowed an attacker with network access to run arbitrary commands on some installations that had no administrator password set.
Beyond those headline risks, the same basics apply as with any home server. Keep Pi-hole and its host system updated, so known flaws are patched promptly. Limit who can reach the admin interface to your local network, and ideally to specific devices. Review query retention settings, since long logs of DNS history are valuable to anyone who gains access. And if clients on several subnets genuinely need DNS, allow those networks explicitly rather than opening the service to everyone.
None of this makes Pi-hole a bad tool. Used correctly, it remains one of the cheapest and most effective privacy upgrades a home network can get. The lesson is simply that a privacy tool deserves the same care as the data it protects: keep it off the public internet, lock the dashboard, restrict DNS to your own networks, and let a VPN, not a port forward, be your way in from outside.
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Source: How-To Geek — read the full story there.
