{"id":"CVE-2026-24061","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2026-24061","generatedAt":"2026-11-01T08:41:02.393Z","title":"GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability","description":"telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a \"-f root\" value for the USER environment variable.","published":"2026-01-21T07:16:02.000Z","lastModified":"2026-09-30T11:47:02.000Z","status":"Analyzed","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-88"],"affected":["gnu/inetutils","debian/debian linux"],"epss":{"score":0.98984,"percentile":0.9993,"date":"2026-10-31","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":true,"dateAdded":"2026-01-26","dueDate":"2026-02-16","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown","notes":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.\nThis vulnerability could affect an open-source component, third-party library, protocol, or proprietary implementation that could be used by different products. For more information, please see: https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/inetutils.git ; https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc; https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24061"},"exploits":{"count":1,"verified":false,"firstPublished":"2026-04-29","source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[{"edbId":52524,"kind":"exploit","title":"GNU InetUtils 2.6 - Telnetd Remote Privilege Escalation","url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/52524","sourceUrl":"https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb/-/blob/main/exploits/linux/local/52524.py","file":"exploits/linux/local/52524.py","published":"2026-04-29","added":"2026-04-29","updated":"2026-04-29","author":"aliguliyev","type":"local","platform":"linux","port":null,"verified":false,"codes":["CVE-2026-24061"],"tags":null,"aliases":null,"applicationUrl":null,"screenshotUrl":null,"referenceUrl":null}]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 16 February 2026). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2026-01/msg00004.html","tags":["Mitigation","Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://redteam.ae/blog/cve-2026-24061-inetutils-telnetd-root-bypass","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/","tags":["Product"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2","tags":["Mailing List"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/8","tags":["Mailing List"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-detection-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-mitigation-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package","tags":["Mitigation","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/22/1","tags":["Mailing List"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/01/msg00025.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-24061","tags":["US Government Resource"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"},{"url":"https://www.labs.greynoise.io/grimoire/2026-01-22-f-around-and-find-out-18-hours-of-unsolicited-houseguests/index.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2#:~:text=root@...a%3A~%20USER='","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24061","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}