Dont know if this helps, because it it from the SuSE knowledge base.
Situation
You want to log in as root to your SuSE Linux 8.0 via telnet.
Procedure
Edit the file
/etc/pam.d/login
and disable the line
auth required pam_securetty.so
Warning
Never use telnet for remote applications, since the whole data exchange takes place in an unencrypted way. Even your login (password) is transmitted unencrypted on the network. Telnet involves a high security risk. Thefore, we recommend you to use encrypted tools such as OpenSSH, for which Windows and MacOS clients are also available. You can find more information on this program at