Threats / GNU / CVE-2026-24061
CVE-2026-24061
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
GNU InetUtils vulnerability
GNU InetUtils telnetd contains an argument injection vulnerability allowing remote authentication bypass via crafted USER environment variable values.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can inject arguments into telnetd processes to bypass authentication mechanisms, potentially gaining unauthorized access to affected systems. The high EPSS score and active exploitation indicate significant risk.
CISA KEV Yes · 2026-01-265EPSS 0.97878 (verify live)6Exploit Weaponized · public PoC7CVSS 9.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Fully weaponized — public exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
89 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-01-26).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.97878 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: GNU, InetUtils. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-88 Argument Injection — weakness family: Injection.CWE — CNA-assigned (CVE.org); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 5 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a telnet connection with a malicious USER environment variable containing argument injection payloads like '-f root'.
Business
Attackers gain unauthorized remote access to systems running vulnerable telnetd, bypassing authentication controls.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the argument injection to assume elevated privileges or bypass login restrictions without valid credentials.
Business
Compromised systems face potential data theft, lateral movement within networks, and loss of confidentiality and integrity.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I establish persistent access or deploy additional payloads on successfully compromised hosts.
Business
Organizations experience extended dwell time, increased incident response costs, and potential regulatory compliance violations.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05