Detections
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GLSA-202601-01 : inetutils: Remote Code Execution
critical Nessus Plugin ID 296594
Description
The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-202601-01 (inetutils: Remote Code Execution)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.
Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Gentoo Linux 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
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
See Also
Plugin Details
Severity: Critical
ID: 296594
File Name: gentoo_GLSA-202601-01.nasl
Version: 1.2
Type: local
Family: Gentoo Local Security Checks
Published: 1/26/2026
Updated: 1/26/2026
Supported Sensors: Nessus
Risk Information
VPR
Risk Factor: Critical
Score: 9.0
CVSS v2
Risk Factor: Critical
Base Score: 10
Temporal Score: 8.3
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: 9.1
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:F/RL:O/RC:C
Vulnerability Information
CPE: p-cpe:/a:gentoo:linux:inetutils, cpe:/o:gentoo:linux
Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/Gentoo/release, Host/Gentoo/qpkg-list
Exploit Available: true
Exploit Ease: Exploits are available
Patch Publication Date: 1/26/2026
Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/21/2026
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability Due Dates: 2/16/2026
Reference Information
CVE: CVE-2026-24061