# CVE-2026-28372: Privilege escalation in inetutils

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by exploiting telnetd's handling of systemd credentials via a specific file and environment variable.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 7 Mar 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-28372, DSA-6144-1, GHSA-j682-47rx-fxrp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-28372

## What is CVE-2026-28372?

CVE-2026-28372 is a high-severity vulnerability in GNU inetutils, published on 27 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-829 (Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-28372?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Gnu Inetutils.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-28372?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-28372 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-28372 exists.

Public exploit code:

- This Proof‑of‑Concept demonstrates a **Local Privilege Escalation** vulnerability in GNU inetutils `telnetd`.  `telnetd` improperly passes client‑controlled environment variables to `login(1)`. By setting: (github_poc): https://github.com/Rohitberiwala/CVE-2026-28372-telnetd-Privilege-Escalation
- https://github.com/mbanyamer/CVE-2026-28372-GNU-inetutils-telnetd-Privilege-Escalation (github_poc): https://github.com/mbanyamer/CVE-2026-28372-GNU-inetutils-telnetd-Privilege-Escalation
- https://github.com/kalibb/CVE-2026-28372-GNU-inetutils-telnetd-Privilege-Escalation-main (github_poc): https://github.com/kalibb/CVE-2026-28372-GNU-inetutils-telnetd-Privilege-Escalation-main

## Other vulnerabilities in GNU inetutils

- [CVE-2026-32746](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32746/): Memory corruption in inetutils (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-40303](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40303/): Privilege escalation in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-32772](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32772/): Information disclosure in inetutils (low 3.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-28372 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-28372 is a high-severity vulnerability in GNU inetutils, published on 27 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-28372 exists.

Affected product: GNU inetutils. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28372/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28372/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-28372
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-28372
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-28372

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28372/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.