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.
- Root prl_disp_service exposed a world-writable socket accepting unsigned local logins
- Argument injection into tar via --use-compress-program yields code execution as root
- JFrog demonstrated the attack on Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 on Apple silicon
- Fix ships only in version 27, which Intel Macs cannot install
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-90894
- Products
- Parallels Desktop
Vulnerabilities mentioned
All| CVE | Vulnerability | CVSS | EPSS | Signals | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-90894 | Local Root Privilege Escalation in Parallels Desktop via tar Argument Injection | 7.8 | — |
From the original article
6 min read at thehackernews.com
Parallels Desktop for Mac has a flaw that lets an ordinary local account run code as root, the highest level of access on a Mac, software company JFrog said this week. The attack needs code already running on the machine as a normal user, so it does not work over the network. JFrog says the fix is in Parallels Desktop 27, a version that Intel Macs cannot install.
thehackernews.com
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