telnetd in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows privilege escalation that can be exploited by…
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-829.
Summary
telnetd in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows privilege escalation that can be exploited by abusing systemd service credentials support added to the login(1) implementation of util-linux in release 2.40. This is related to client control over the CREDENTIALS_DIRECTORY environment variable, and requires an unprivileged local user to create a login.noauth file.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-28372
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-j682-47rx-fxrp
References
More GNU Inetutils vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-19388 telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 allows remote authentication bypass via a "-f root"… KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2011-04182 Buffer overflow in libtelnet/encrypt.c in telnetd in FreeBSD 7.3 through 9.0, MIT… CVSS 2.0HIGH 10.0
- TI-2026-25237 Buffer overflow in GNU inetutils CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-25261 telnet in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows servers to read arbitrary environment… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.7
- TI-2022-18420 telnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.3, MIT krb5-appl through 1.0.3, and derivative works… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-21144 GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-28372 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-28372 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j682-47rx-fxrp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences