CVEs / CVE-2026-24061
CVE-2026-24061: GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability
- Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 26 Jan 2026
- critical 9.8 CVSS 3.1 (from the CNA)
- EPSS 98.9% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
- Last changed at its sources
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Summary
GNU InetUtils contains an argument injection vulnerability in telnetd that could allow for remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.
Description
telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| GNU Inetutils | from 1.9.3, up to and including 2.7 | — |
Exploitation
| In CISA KEV since | 26 Jan 2026 |
|---|---|
| Due date for US federal agencies | 16 Feb 2026 |
| Used in ransomware campaigns | Unknown |
| 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. |
Severity
| CVSS 3.1 | 9.8 criticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HScored by the CNA ([email protected]) |
|---|---|
| Weakness | CWE-88 |
References
- CVE-2026-24061 on NVD
- CVE-2026-24061 in the CISA KEV catalog
- https://cgit.git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/inetutils.git (cited by CISA)
- https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc (cited by CISA)
- https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b (cited by CISA)
- CVE-2026-24061 on OSV
- https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc Patch
- https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b Patch
- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2026-01/msg00004.html Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
- https://redteam.ae/blog/cve-2026-24061-inetutils-telnetd-root-bypass Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/ Product
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2 Mailing List
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/8 Mailing List
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-detection-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package Third Party Advisory
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2026-24061-mitigation-script-remote-authentication-bypass-in-gnu-inetutils-package Mitigation, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/22/1 Mailing List
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/01/msg00025.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-24061 US Government Resource
- https://www.labs.greynoise.io/grimoire/2026-01-22-f-around-and-find-out-18-hours-of-unsolicited-houseguests/index.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2#:~:[email protected]%3A~%20USER=' Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Sources
Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.