Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in the GNU Inetutils telnetd server, affecting most modern Linux deployments. These flaws allow for authentication bypass and remote code execution (RCE) before a login prompt is even shown.
Vulnerability Summary
| Vulnerability | Designation | CVSS | Affected Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLC Buffer Overflow | N/A | Critical | Up to 2.7 |
| Auth Bypass ($USER variable) | CVE-2026-24061 | 9.8 | 1.9.3 and higher |
Identification via runZero
Use the following query in your Asset Inventory to find potentially impacted Linux systems:
Recommended Actions
- Disable telnetd across the entire network.
- Ensure strict network access controls (firewalls) are in place.
- Replace Telnet with SSH for remote management.
About runZero
runZero, a network discovery and asset inventory solution, was founded in 2018 by HD Moore, the creator of Metasploit. HD envisioned a modern active discovery solution that could find and identify everything on a network–without credentials. As a security researcher and penetration tester, he often employed benign ways to get information leaks and piece them together to build device profiles. Eventually, this work led him to leverage applied research and the discovery techniques developed for security and penetration testing to create runZero.
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