I don't think anyone uses telnet for it *original* purpose. It is useful for *debuging* a Tcp/Ip server, since telnet can take a port number as a parameter. That is, suppose you write a server listening on port 12021, one can test the program with the command
telnet localhost 12021 And then type what you would expect a client for your server would send and see if the server responds properly. At Fri, 13 Mar 2026 21:16:24 +0000 "Jonathan Dowland" <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri Mar 13, 2026 at 1:42 PM GMT, Jeffrey Walton wrote: > > FYI... from the OSS-Security mailing list at > > <https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/13/1>. This > > caught my eye: > > > > Debian's switch from netkit telnet to inetutils telnet during > > the Debian 12 (Bookworm) cycle reintroduced this vulnerability > > to the default installation. > > Hmm. inetutils-telnet is Priority: standard. (It's the only binary > package built from inetutils source which is). At some point in time, it > would have been reasonable to expect a telnet client on any system. I'm > not sure if that's still true: it's probably due for assessment. I'm not > planning on pursuing this myself, though. > -- Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364 Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services [email protected] -- Webhosting Services
