VulnTideExploited vulnerabilities, by vendor. Data as of 28 Oct 2026.
Known exploitedIn CISA's KEV catalog since 26 January 2026Ransomware use: unknown
GNU InetUtils

CVE-2026-24061: GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability

Is it exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 26 Jan 2026, 5 days after the CVE record was published.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
99%

EPSS score, percentile 99.9 of all scored records

How severe?
9.8 Critical

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA deadline 16 Feb 2026. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

Which versions are affected?

Affected

  • 1.9.3 through 2.7

Versions by product

Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

Required action, set by CISA

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

CISA due date for this action: 16 February 2026.

Advisories and patches

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

Linked from CISA's catalog entry

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

GNU Inetutils
StatusVersions
Affected1.9.3 through 2.7

Versions not listed are: unknown.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

GNU InetUtils contains an argument injection vulnerability in telnetd that could allow for remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.

Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.

  • CISA added CVE-2026-24061 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 26 Jan 2026.
  • CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
  • The due date CISA sets for the required action is 16 Feb 2026.
  • The CVE record was published on 21 Jan 2026, 5 days before it was added to KEV.
  • The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical), given by its CNA.
  • FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 99% (percentile 99.9), as of 28 Oct 2026.
  • CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact total.

Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root" value for the USER environment variable.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Weakness

  • CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.

Timeline

DateEvent
21 Jan 2026CVE record published
26 Jan 2026Added to CISA KEV
16 Feb 2026CISA due date for the required action
29 Sep 2026CVE record last updated

References

More exploited GNU vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2014-6278: GNU Bash OS Command Injection Vulnerability (added 2 Oct 2025)
  • CVE-2023-4911: GNU C Library Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (added 21 Nov 2023)
  • CVE-2014-6271: GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability (added 28 Jan 2022)
  • CVE-2014-7169: GNU Bourne-Again Shell (Bash) Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability (added 28 Jan 2022)