Debian dsa-6106 : inetutils-ftp - security update

critical Nessus Plugin ID 294968

Synopsis

The remote Debian host is missing a security-related update.

Description

The remote Debian 12 / 13 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the dsa-6106 advisory.

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-6106-1 [email protected] https://www.debian.org/security/ Salvatore Bonaccorso January 22, 2026 https://www.debian.org/security/faq
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Package : inetutils CVE ID : CVE-2026-24061 Debian Bug : 1126047

Kyu Neushwaistein discovered that telnetd from inetutils does not sanitize the USER environment variable before passing it on to login. A remote attacker can take advantage of this flaw to login as root, bypassing normal authentication processes.

For the oldstable distribution (bookworm), this problem has been fixed in version 2:2.4-2+deb12u2.

For the stable distribution (trixie), this problem has been fixed in version 2:2.6-3+deb13u1.

We recommend that you upgrade your inetutils packages.

For the detailed security status of inetutils please refer to its security tracker page at:
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/inetutils

Further information about Debian Security Advisories, how to apply these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be found at: https://www.debian.org/security/

Mailing list: [email protected]

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Debian security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade the inetutils-ftp packages.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/source-package/inetutils

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-24061

https://packages.debian.org/source/bookworm/inetutils

https://packages.debian.org/source/trixie/inetutils

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 294968

File Name: debian_DSA-6106.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 1/22/2026

Updated: 1/22/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Critical

Score: 9.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 10

Temporal Score: 7.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-24061

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.8

Temporal Score: 8.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:telnetd, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-telnet, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-talk, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-tools, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-telnetd, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-ftp, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-inetd, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-ping, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-traceroute, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-talkd, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-syslogd, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:telnet, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:inetutils-ftpd

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/Debian/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 1/22/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/21/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-24061