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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2026-24061: telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Now (action score 99/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Jan 26, 2026). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Feb 16, 2026.
  • A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 98.9% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.9% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: inetutils-telnet (Alpine:v3.24) 2.8-r0; inetutils (Debian:11) 2:2.0-1+deb11u3; inetutils (Debian:12) 2:2.4-2+deb12u2.

Patch today or shut off access. Upgrade to inetutils-telnet (Alpine:v3.24) 2.8-r0; inetutils (Debian:11) 2:2.0-1+deb11u3; inetutils (Debian:12) 2:2.4-2+deb12u2 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

Published
Jan 21, 2026
Updated
Sep 30, 2026
EPSS
98.9% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

99

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
30 / 30 · 98.9%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · mitre
9.8
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Jan 26, 2026. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Feb 16, 2026.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-24061

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
gnuinetutils
debiandebian linux

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (mitre). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • GNU Inetutils

    • 1.9.3 and later · up to and including 2.7affected

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux11.0
  • gnu inetutils1.9.3 and later · up to 2.7 inclusive

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.24inetutils-telnetbefore 2.8-r02.8-r0
Debian:11inetutilsbefore 2:2.0-1+deb11u32:2.0-1+deb11u3
Debian:12inetutilsbefore 2:2.4-2+deb12u22:2.4-2+deb12u2
Debian:13inetutilsbefore 2:2.6-3+deb13u12:2.6-3+deb13u1
Debian:14inetutilsbefore 2:2.7-22:2.7-2

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-32746telnetd in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows an out-of-bounds write in the LINEMODE SLC (Set Local Characters) suboption handler because…
    53Plan
  • CVE-2026-28372telnetd in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows privilege escalation that can be exploited by abusing systemd service credentials support added…
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2023-40303GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp…
    31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-40491Sep 2, 2021 · The ftp client in GNU Inetutils before 2.2 does not validate addresses returned by PASV/LSPV responses to make sure they match the server…
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-39028Aug 30, 2022 · telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.3, MIT krb5-appl through 1.0.3, and derivative works has a NULL pointer dereference via 0xff 0xf7 or…
    31Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-32772Mar 16, 2026 · telnet in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows servers to read arbitrary environment variables from clients via NEW_ENVIRON SEND USERVAR.
    18Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:inetutils-telnet2.8-r0 · Alpine:v3.24Package registry (OSV)
debian:inetutils2:2.4-2+deb12u2 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1
  • Exploit-DB entry ×1
  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×50

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub50 repositories2026-01-21 → 2026-02-18
Exploit-DB entrylocal2026-04-29
Metasploit moduleexploit/linux/telnet/gnu_inetutils_auth_bypassGNU Inetutils Telnet Authentication Bypass Exploit CVE-2026-24061exploit2026-01-26
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2026-24061 —

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. First PoCsame day
  2. Published
  3. Metasploit+5 d
  4. CISA KEV+5 d
  5. TodayNov 13, 2026+296 d

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-88 · Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (11 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records