Telnet Service Detection

info Nessus Plugin ID 10280

Synopsis

Telnet service appears to be running on the remote system.

Description

The Telnet service is running. This service is dangerous in the sense that it is not ciphered - that is, everyone can sniff the data that passes between the telnet client and the telnet server. This includes logins and passwords.

Solution

If you are running a Unix-type system, OpenSSH can be used instead of telnet. For Unix systems, you can comment out the 'telnet' line in /etc/inetd.conf. For Unix systems which use xinetd, you will need to modify the telnet services file in the /etc/xinetd.d folder. After making any changes to xinetd or inetd configuration files, you must restart the service in order for the changes to take affect.

In addition, many different router and switch manufacturers support SSH as a telnet replacement. You should contact your vendor for a solution which uses an encrypted session.

Plugin Details

Severity: Info

ID: 10280

File Name: telnet.nasl

Version: 1.46

Type: remote

Family: Service detection

Published: 8/22/1999

Updated: 10/26/2023

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Reference Information

IAVA: 0001-A-0630

Detections

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