Vendor

Parallels

3 mentions in 7 days · 3 in 30 days · 3 total · first seen Sep 16, 2026 · last 3h ago

Timeline3 articles

Parallels Desktop Flaw Lets Non-Admin Mac Users Gain Root, but Intel Macs Can't Install Fix

JFrog disclosed CVE-2026-90894, a 7.8-rated local privilege escalation in Parallels Desktop for Mac, patched only in version 27, which Intel Macs cannot install.

JFrog researcher Yuval Moravchick disclosed CVE-2026-90894 (dubbed ParaShells, CVSS 7.8), a local privilege escalation in Parallels Desktop for Mac that lets non-admin users run code as root. The root-level prl_disp_service listens on a world-writable socket, and argument injection into a tar command via QProcess::splitCommand and the --use-compress-program option yields code execution as root, demonstrated on Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 build 57513 on Apple silicon. The fix appears in version 27.0.0, but Parallels Desktop 27 requires Apple silicon, leaving Intel Macs on the 26.x line with no build JFrog describes as fixed. No exploitation in the wild has been reported and Parallels has not published a statement.

The Hacker News13:14 UTC · 3h agoVulnerability 4 sources CVE-2026-90894

Parallels Desktop flaw hands any local user root on a Mac (CVE-2026-90894)

CVE-2026-90894 in Parallels Desktop for Mac lets any local user gain root via argument injection; patched in v27.0.0, PoC withheld.

JFrog researchers disclosed CVE-2026-90894, an argument injection flaw in Parallels Desktop for Mac v26.4.0 on Apple silicon that lets any local user gain root on the host. The chain combines a world-writable Unix socket for prl_disp_service (which runs as root), weak peer-credential authentication, and argument injection via --use-compress-program in the appliance extraction tar path. Alludo fixed the flaw in Parallels Desktop v27.0.0 in early September 2026; JFrog published technical details but withheld its proof-of-concept script.

Help Net Securityupdated 13:14 UTC · 3h agofirst 12:36 UTC · 4h agoVulnerability 4 sources CVE-2026-90894

Parallels Desktop Flaw Lets Unprivileged Mac Users Gain Root Access

JFrog's 'ParaShells' research details CVE-2026-90894, a Parallels Desktop local privilege escalation letting unprivileged macOS users gain root via tar argument injection.

JFrog researcher Yuval Moravchick disclosed CVE-2026-90894 ('ParaShells'), a critical local privilege escalation flaw demonstrated against Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 build 57513 on Apple silicon. The world-writable /var/run/prl_disp_service.socket accepts connections from unsigned clients, and argument injection into a tar extraction command via the --use-compress-program option executes attacker-controlled code with root privileges. The attack needs no administrator permissions, running VM, or Parallels-signed client, and a one-line PoC yielded a root shell. Risk is highest on developer workstations, shared training systems, and enterprise Macs.

GBHackersupdated 13:14 UTC · 3h agofirst 11:29 UTC · 5h agoVulnerability 4 sources CVE-2026-90894

Related CVEsby mentions

CVE-2026-908947.8—
Local Root Privilege Escalation in Parallels Desktop via tar Argument Injection
Parallels Desktop on macOS runs its prl_disp_service daemon as root and exposes it on the world-writable Unix socket /var/run/prl_disp_service.socket, where PrlSrv_LoginLocal authenticates clients purely on peer credentials without checking for a Parallels signature or administrator group membership. Once connected, any local user can call PrlSrv_InstallAppliance and supply an appliance folder path (sVmParentPath) that gets embedded in the command string tar -xf "%1" -C "%2"; because Qt's QProcess::splitCommand re-splits the string into words, an embedded quote closes the argument early and turns leftover text into attacker-chosen tar flags. macOS tar's --use-compress-program option then executes the named program, giving the attacker arbitrary code execution as root — a full local privilege escalation from any unprivileged account on the Mac. All Macs running an affected Parallels Desktop build (the advisory does not specify version ranges) with additional local user accounts are exposed. No public proof of concept is known and the CVE is not in CISA's KEV catalog, so there is no evidence of in-the-wild exploitation at this time.
· Parallels (Alludo) Parallels Desktop for Macmass

Appears with

product Parallels Desktop 3 vendor JFrog 3 organization JFrog 2 product macOS 1 vendor Alludo 1 vendor Apple 1 organization Parallels 1

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