Vulnerability in Gnu Inetutils
CVE-2026-24061
telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.
EPSS: 0.915 (99.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Gnu Inetutils — versions 1.9.3
Weakness classification (CWE)
CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)
This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on . CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.
BOD 22-01 due date: .
Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Public proof-of-concept exploits
- ekomsSavior/telnet_scan
- RStephanH/vuln-deb
- 0xBlackash/CVE-2026-24061
- setuju/telnetd
- jacubes/CVE-2026-24061
- obrunolima1910/CVE-2026-24061
- ahmadsadeeq/TelnetdBypass-
- midox008/CVE-2026-24061
- Risma2025/Forensic-Investigation-on-CVE-2026-24061-GNU-InetUtils-telnetd-Authentication-Bypass-Vulnerability
- Risma2025/CVE-2026-24061-GNU-InetUtils-telnetd-Authentication-Bypass-Vulnerability
References
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/8
- www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
- lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2026-01/msg00004.html
- codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b
- codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc
- www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-detection-script-remote-authentic…
- www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-mitigation-script-remote-authenti…
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-24061?
- CVE-2026-24061 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Gnu Inetutils, classified under Argument Injection. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2026-01-21.
- How severe is CVE-2026-24061?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2026-24061 known to be exploited?
- Yes. CVE-2026-24061 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-01-26), indicating it is being actively exploited. 15 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.