GLSA 202601-01: inetutils: Remote Code Execution

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	high
Title:	inetutils: Remote Code Execution
Date:	01/26/2026
Bugs:	#969065
ID:	202601-01

Synopsis

A vulnerability has been discovered in the telnetd module of inetutils, which allows remote code execution as root.

Background

Inetutils is a collection of common network programs including a telnet client and server.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
net-misc/inetutils	< 2.7	>= 2.7	All supported architectures

Description

The telnetd server invokes /usr/bin/login (normally running as root) passing the value of the USER environment variable received from the client as the last parameter. If the client supply a carefully crafted USER environment value being the string "-f root", and passes the telnet(1) -a or --login parameter to send this USER environment to the server, the client will be automatically logged in as root bypassing normal authentication processes. This happens because the telnetd server do not sanitize the USER environment variable before passing it on to login(1), and login(1) uses the -f parameter to by-pass normal authentication.

Impact

An attacker can login as root via the telnetd daemon.

Workaround

Reinstall inetutils with the telnetd USE flag disabled. This is the default in Gentoo.

Resolution

All inetutils users with the telnetd USE flag enabled should upgrade to the latest version:

          # emerge --sync
          # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-misc/inetutils-2.7"

References

CVE-2026-24061

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-202601-01.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.