Critical severity · published Jan 21, 2026
CVE-2026-24061
GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability
In wildKEV
9.8
CVSS
99%
EPSS
Yes
On KEV
Description
telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)99.0% · higher than 100% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildYes
CISA KEVListed Jan 26, 2026
Federal remediation dueFeb 16, 2026
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
IN
Inetutils · GNU
1.9.3 through 2.7 · source: vendor, NVD, KEV
DL
Debian Linux · Debian
11.0 · source: NVD
In the news
VulnerabilityCritical
[CISA KEV] CVE-2026-24061: GNU InetUtils - GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability
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.
INInetUtilsCVE-2026-24061
Jan 26, 2026·CISA KEV
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24061
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-24061
CISA KEV catalogue
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
www.openwall.com
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/2
www.openwall.com
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/20/8
www.gnu.org
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
lists.gnu.org
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2026-01/msg00004.html
codeberg.org
https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/fd702c02497b2f398e739e3119bed0b23dd7aa7b
codeberg.org
https://codeberg.org/inetutils/inetutils/commit/ccba9f748aa8d50a38d7748e2e60362edd6a32cc
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