The vulnerability originates from the telnet server component of GNU Inetutils. It permits a client to send the NEW_ENVIRON and SEND USERVAR commands such that the server will read and expose arbitrary environment variables contained in the client’s environment. This behaviour results in the disclosure of sensitive information that may be available only to the client process. The weakness is a classic information‑exposure through an interface issue, mapped to CWE‑669.

Affected products are the telnet service in GNU Inetutils versions up to and including 2.7. The problem exists in all builds that implement the standard telnet protocol without guarding against the NEW_ENVIRON request. No specific vendor release notes are provided, but the advisory warns that any version of inetutils 2.7 or earlier is vulnerable.

This issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.4, indicating low overall severity. The EPSS score is reported to be below 1 %, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, suggesting a low probability of widespread exploitation. An attacker would need to establish a telnet session to a vulnerable server and send the NEW_ENVIRON command with crafted environment data. The exploit does not require elevated privileges on the server side and may be performed by a remote client connecting to the telnet port.