ZDF
Sign inSign up

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2011-4862

GNU InetUtils Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow')

Published Dec 23, 2011 · catalog updated Dec 23, 2011 · GNU InetUtils

Patch now

CVE-2011-4862 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog. Confirm GNU InetUtils against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Gaps on this record

  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
Severity
Unknown—
Known exploitation
CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
95.06%
Remediation
Remediation guidance
Affected products
vendor GNU InetUtils

Buffer overflow in libtelnet/encrypt.c in telnetd in FreeBSD 7.3 through 9.0, MIT Kerberos Version 5 Applications (aka krb5-appl) 1.0.2 and earlier, Heimdal 1.5.1 and earlier, GNU inetutils, and possibly other products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long encryption key, as exploited in the wild in December 2011. Initial-access exploit intelligence.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • vendor GNU InetUtilsversion unspecified

How to fix CVE-2011-4862

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

CVE-2011-4862 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog. Confirm GNU InetUtils against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Apply remediations or mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if remediation or mitigations are unavailable.

What should an analyst verify?

No weakness class is stored. EPSS 95.06%. The CISA KEV listing is the exploitation evidence. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Dec 23, 2011 · VulnCheck KEV

    Detected

    Buffer overflow in libtelnet/encrypt.c in telnetd in FreeBSD 7.3 through 9.0, MIT Kerberos Version 5 Applications (aka krb5-appl) 1.0.2 and earlier, Heimdal 1.5.1 and earlier, GNU inetutils, and possibly other products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long encryption key, as exploited in the wild in December 2011. Initial-access exploit intelligence.

  2. Dec 23, 2011 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply remediations or mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if remediation or mitigations are unavailable.

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2011-4862

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2011-4862

    30-day exploitation probability 95.1%

    first.org
  • VulnCheck KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2011-4862

    Buffer overflow in libtelnet/encrypt.c in telnetd in FreeBSD 7.3 through 9.0, MIT Kerberos Version 5 Applications (aka krb5-appl) 1.0.2 and earlier, Heimdal 1.5.1 and earlier, GNU inetutils, and possibly other products allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a long

    vulncheck.com

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 18, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.