CVE-2026-24061
CVSS 9.8 CriticalEPSS 91.1%KEV
- CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Published: 2026-01-21T07:16:01.597
telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a “-f root” value for the USER environment variable.
Related CVE by CWE
No related CWE found.
Top CVE for Vendor
No vendor taxonomy on this entry.
Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities
No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.
How to fix CVE-2026-24061
CVE-2026-24061 is a critical severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.
Description: telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a “-f root” value for the USER environment variable. Related CVE by CWENo related CWE found.Top CVE for VendorNo vendor taxonomy on this entry.Recently Exploited Similar VulnerabilitiesNo recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.
Exploit Difficulty: EASY
⏱️ Time to exploit: < 1 hour
🛠️ Required skills: Basic web security knowledge
💰 Public exploits: Likely available
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Description: telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a “-f root” value for the USER environment variable. Related CVE by CWENo related CWE found.Top CVE for VendorNo vendor taxonomy on this entry.Recently Exploited Similar VulnerabilitiesNo recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.
Exploit Difficulty: EASY
⏱️ Time to exploit: < 1 hour
🛠️ Required skills: Basic web security knowledge
💰 Public exploits: Likely available
How to Fix:
1 Identify affected systems
- Check if you're running the affected product
2 Immediate actions
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
3 Verification
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
4 Long-term prevention
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
EASY
Time to Exploit: < 1 hour
Skills Required: Basic web security knowledge
Public Exploits: Likely available
KEV Status: This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild!
Vulnerability Timeline
Jan 21, 2026
Vulnerability Published
CVE details first published to NVD database
KEV
Added to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
CISA confirmed active exploitation in the wild
Jan 21, 2026
Imported to Database
Added to this CVE tracking system
Detection Rules & IOCs
No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.
No vendor/product data available.