Description
telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.
CVSS breakdown
CVSS 3.1
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Affected products
- Debian / debian_linux11.0 – 11.0
- gnu / inetutils1.9.3 – 2.7
- gnu / inetutils1.9.3 – 2.7
Exploits & proofs of concept
- exploit-dbGNU InetUtils 2.6 - Telnetd Remote Privilege Escalationby aliguliyev
- nucleiGNU Inetutils telnetd - Authentication Bypassby pussycat0x
References
- MAILING_LISThttps://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2
- MAILING_LISThttps://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/8
- MISChttps://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
- MAILING_LISThttps://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2026-01/msg00004.html
- MISChttps://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b
- MISChttps://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc
- MISChttps://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-detection-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package
- MISChttps://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-mitigation-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package
- MISChttps://redteam.ae/blog/cve-2026-24061-inetutils-telnetd-root-bypass
Updated 5m ago · 8 sources