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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-32746: GNU inetutils · Classic Buffer Overflow

Affects GNU inetutilsSource CVE Database V5

0
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Public exploit available (Exploit-DB) · 44% EPSS · CVSS 9.8 Critical.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
9.8Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
44.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 98% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 13 Mar 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  4. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Timeline

  1. CVE ID reserved

    by MITRE Corporation

    , 1 minute before disclosure

  2. CVE published

    on cve.org

    , t = 0

  3. In Threat Radar

    record ingested

    , 15 minutes after disclosure

  4. First Exploit-DB entry (opens in a new tab)

    telnetd 2.7 - Buffer Overflow

    , 55 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 24 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
GNUinetutilsAffected
  • <=2.7
Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-32746, organizations should immediately assess their use of GNU inetutils telnetd and disable the telnet service where possible, replacing it with more secure alternatives such as SSH. If telnetd usage is unavoidable, restrict access to trusted networks using firewall rules and network segmentation to minimize exposure. Monitor network traffic for unusual telnet activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. Apply vendor patches or updates as soon as they become available; in the absence of official patches, consider applying community-developed patches or backported fixes from trusted sources. Conduct thorough code audits and testing if custom builds of inetutils are used. Employ runtime protections such as Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), stack canaries, and non-executable memory regions to reduce exploitation success. Regularly update intrusion detection and prevention systems with signatures related to this vulnerability. Finally, maintain comprehensive incident response plans to quickly address any detected exploitation attempts.

Description

telnetd in GNU inetutils through 2.7 allows an out-of-bounds write in the LINEMODE SLC (Set Local Characters) suboption handler because add_slc does not check whether the buffer is full.

References

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