diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index dde64a62a4..42631fbc23 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/gcache v0.0.0-20241015120333-12546c6e3f4c
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/go-smb2 v0.0.0-20240129202741-052cc450c6cb
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags v0.1.74
-	github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.69
+	github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.68
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/gostruct v0.0.2
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/govaluate v0.0.0-20260504230327-80320480bb6e
 	github.com/projectdiscovery/gozero v0.1.1-0.20251027191944-a4ea43320b81
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index a6766d177e..e60bf251aa 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -879,8 +879,8 @@ github.com/projectdiscovery/go-smb2 v0.0.0-20240129202741-052cc450c6cb h1:rutG90
 github.com/projectdiscovery/go-smb2 v0.0.0-20240129202741-052cc450c6cb/go.mod h1:FLjF1DmZ+POoGEiIQdWuYVwS++C/GwpX8YaCsTSm1RY=
 github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags v0.1.74 h1:n85uTRj5qMosm0PFBfsvOL24I7TdWRcWq/1GynhXS7c=
 github.com/projectdiscovery/goflags v0.1.74/go.mod h1:UMc9/7dFz2oln+10tv6cy+7WZKTHf9UGhaNkF95emh4=
-github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.69 h1:lj839gk8x0RhS5tOi9aqYQ+LGU0v7JwEL1Kitrqzt/k=
-github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.69/go.mod h1:kpLKNafZWRN9P7WpJYtIOY/XvY/v41GDdU9NzICdKmo=
+github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.68 h1:KfdIO/3X7BtHssWZuqhxPZ+A946epCCx2cz+3NnRAnU=
+github.com/projectdiscovery/gologger v1.1.68/go.mod h1:Xae0t4SeqJVa0RQGK9iECx/+HfXhvq70nqOQp2BuW+o=
 github.com/projectdiscovery/gostruct v0.0.2 h1:s8gP8ApugGM4go1pA+sVlPDXaWqNP5BBDDSv7VEdG1M=
 github.com/projectdiscovery/gostruct v0.0.2/go.mod h1:H86peL4HKwMXcQQtEa6lmC8FuD9XFt6gkNR0B/Mu5PE=
 github.com/projectdiscovery/govaluate v0.0.0-20260504230327-80320480bb6e h1:o+ulEIaC2+9V2Ezr6mI5xEhKWsf0V/+FUQIS723Aj6U=
diff --git a/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm.go b/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm.go
index b4105b52bc..3939235a20 100644
--- a/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm.go
+++ b/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm.go
@@ -40,9 +40,11 @@ func ParseNTLMResponse(data []byte) (*NTLMInfoResponse, error) {
 	// Extract NTLM data (NTLMSSP.*\xff\xf0)
 	ntlmData := data[ntlmStart : ntlmStart+ntlmEnd]
 
-	// Check message type (should be 2 for Challenge)
-	if len(ntlmData) < 12 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("NTLM response too short")
+	// Check message type (should be 2 for Challenge).
+	// The fixed header runs to offset 48 (target-info offset field ends at byte 48),
+	// so reject anything shorter before touching any field offsets.
+	if len(ntlmData) < 48 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("NTLM response too short: need at least 48 bytes, got %d", len(ntlmData))
 	}
 
 	messageType := binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(ntlmData[8:12])
diff --git a/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm_test.go b/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dbaac973c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/utils/telnetmini/ntlm_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+package telnetmini
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// buildChallenge constructs a minimal NTLM type-2 challenge message of exactly
+// headerLen bytes, wrapped in the telnet framing expected by ParseNTLMResponse.
+func buildChallenge(headerLen int) []byte {
+	ntlm := make([]byte, headerLen)
+
+	copy(ntlm[0:], "NTLMSSP\x00")
+
+	if headerLen >= 12 {
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(ntlm[8:12], 2)
+	}
+
+	var out []byte
+	out = append(out, ntlm...)
+	out = append(out, 0xFF, 0xF0)
+	return out
+}
+
+// buildValidChallenge returns a fully-formed 48-byte NTLM type-2 challenge with
+// a small UTF-16LE target name appended after the fixed header.
+func buildValidChallenge() []byte {
+	targetName := []byte("W\x00I\x00N\x00") // "WIN" in UTF-16LE
+	ntlm := make([]byte, 48+len(targetName))
+
+	copy(ntlm[0:], "NTLMSSP\x00")
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(ntlm[8:12], 2)
+
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(ntlm[12:14], uint16(len(targetName)))
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(ntlm[14:16], uint16(len(targetName)))
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(ntlm[16:20], 48)
+
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(ntlm[40:42], 0)
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(ntlm[44:48], 48)
+
+	copy(ntlm[48:], targetName)
+
+	var out []byte
+	out = append(out, ntlm...)
+	out = append(out, 0xFF, 0xF0)
+	return out
+}
+
+func TestParseNTLMResponse_Valid(t *testing.T) {
+	data := buildValidChallenge()
+	resp, err := ParseNTLMResponse(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil response")
+	}
+}
+
+// TestParseNTLMResponse_Minimal48Bytes verifies that a challenge with exactly
+// 48 bytes (the minimum valid fixed-header size, no target name or info) is
+// accepted — confirming the boundary condition of the len<48 guard.
+func TestParseNTLMResponse_Minimal48Bytes(t *testing.T) {
+	data := buildChallenge(48)
+	resp, err := ParseNTLMResponse(data)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("48-byte challenge should be valid, got error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-nil response for 48-byte challenge")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseNTLMResponse_ErrorCases(t *testing.T) {
+	wrongTypeChallenge := buildChallenge(48)
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(wrongTypeChallenge[8:12], 1)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		input   []byte
+		wantErr string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "nil input",
+			input:   nil,
+			wantErr: "NTLMSSP signature not found",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "empty input",
+			input:   []byte{},
+			wantErr: "NTLMSSP signature not found",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "missing NTLMSSP signature",
+			input:   []byte("hello world\xFF\xF0"),
+			wantErr: "NTLMSSP signature not found",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "missing Sub-option End terminator",
+			input:   []byte("NTLMSSP\x00" + strings.Repeat("\x00", 40)),
+			wantErr: "not properly terminated",
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "wrong message type",
+			input:   wrongTypeChallenge,
+			wantErr: "expected NTLM challenge message",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, err := ParseNTLMResponse(tc.input)
+			if err == nil {
+				t.Fatal("expected error, got nil")
+			}
+			if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tc.wantErr) {
+				t.Errorf("error %q does not contain %q", err.Error(), tc.wantErr)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// TestParseNTLMResponse_TruncatedNoPanic verifies that every NTLM section length
+// in [12, 47] returns an error instead of panicking (regression for slice-bounds bug).
+func TestParseNTLMResponse_TruncatedNoPanic(t *testing.T) {
+	for length := 12; length < 48; length++ {
+		data := buildChallenge(length)
+		_, err := ParseNTLMResponse(data)
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("length %d: expected error for truncated challenge, got nil", length)
+		}
+	}
+}