Several vulnerabilities were discovered in the inetutils implementation of telnetd and telnet, which may result in privilege escalation or information disclosure. CVE-2026-28372 Ron Ben Yizhak from SafeBreach found that the fix for CVE-2026-24061 was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian LTS Advisory DLA-4527-1
Several vulnerabilities were discovered in the inetutils implementation of telnetd and telnet, which may result in privilege escalation or information disclosure. For the oldstable distribution (bookworm), these problems have been fixed in version 2:2.4-2+deb12u3.. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-6193-1
Ron Ben Yizhak discovered that the inetutils implementation of telnetd didn't sanitise the CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY environment variable before passing it to the login binary. This could be exploited to bypass authentication and login as root. For the stable distribution (trixie), this problem has been fixed in. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-6144-1
Inetutils could allow unintended access to network services.. ========================================================================== Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7992-1 February 02, 2026 inetutils vulnerability ========================================================================== A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives: - Ubuntu 25.10 - Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Summary: Inetutils could allow unintended access to network services. Software Description: - inetutils: Collection of common network programs Details: Kyu Neushwaistein discovered that telnetd in Inetutils incorrectly handled certain environment variables. A remote attacker could use this issue to bypass authentication and open a session as an administrator. Update instructions: The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions: Ubuntu 25.10 inetutils-telnetd 2:2.6-1ubuntu3.1 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS inetutils-telnetd 2:2.5-3ubuntu4.1 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS inetutils-telnetd 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.2 In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes. References: https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7992-1 CVE-2026-24061 Package Information: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/inetutils/2:2.2-2ubuntu0.2 . Important security update for Ubuntu Inetutils addresses access issues in telnetd that may lead to unauthorized access.. Ubuntu Security, Inetutils, network services, telnetd access, system update. . Severity: Important. LinuxSecurity.com Team
A vulnerability has been discovered in the telnetd module of inetutils, which allows remote code execution as root.. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 202601-01 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - https://security.gentoo.org/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Severity: High Title: inetutils: Remote Code Execution Date: January 26, 2026 Bugs: #969065 ID: 202601-01 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Synopsis ======== A vulnerability has been discovered in the telnetd module of inetutils, which allows remote code execution as root. Background ========== Inetutils is a collection of common network programs including a telnet client and server. Affected packages ================= Package Vulnerable Unaffected ------------------ ------------ ------------ net-misc/inetutils < 2.7 > = 2.7 Description =========== The telnetd server invokes /usr/bin/login (normally running as root) passing the value of the USER environment variable received from the client as the last parameter. If the client supply a carefully crafted USER environment value being the string "-f root", and passes the telnet(1) -a or --login parameter to send this USER environment to the server, the client will be automatically logged in as root bypassing normal authentication processes. This happens because the telnetd server do not sanitize the USER environment variable before passing it on to login(1), and login(1) uses the -f parameter to by-pass normal authentication. Impact ====== An attacker can login as root via the telnetd daemon. Workaround ========== Reinstall inetutils with the telnetd USE flag disabled. This is the default in Gentoo. Resolution ========== All inetutils users with the telnetd USE flag enabled should upgradeto the latest version: # emerge --sync # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose "> =net-misc/inetutils-2.7" References ========== [ 1 ] CVE-2026-24061 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24061 Availability ============ This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202601-01 Concerns? ========= Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users' machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
Kyu Neushwaistein aka Carlos Cortes Alvarez found that inetutils, a collection of common network programs, was vulnerable to an authentication bypass problem in telnetd, which could lead to remote root shell access (if telnetd is enabled and exposed). As described also in the GNU InetUtils security advisory, it is not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian LTS Advisory DLA-4453-1
Kyu Neushwaistein discovered that telnetd from inetutils does not sanitize the USER environment variable before passing it on to login. A remote attacker can take advantage of this flaw to login as root, bypassing normal authentication processes. For the oldstable distribution (bookworm), this problem has been fixed. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-6106-1
Security issues were discovered in inetutils, a collection of GNU network utilities, which could lead to privilege escalation or potentially execution of arbitrary code. . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian LTS Advisory DLA-3611-1
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