CVE-2024-36486Public exploit

Root privilege escalation via hard-link overwrite

Published Jun 3, 2025 · Updated Jun 3, 2025

Privilege escalation in Parallels Desktop for Mac 20.1.1 (55740) allows local users to overwrite root-owned files during VM restoration. The root-run prl_vmarchiver follows an attacker-created hard link and writes substituted compressed archive data to its root-owned target. A low-privilege macOS account with access to an archived VM can replace its .hds, .mem, or .dmp content and gain root privileges after the overwritten file is acted upon.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.32%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Parallels Desktop for Mac 20.1.1 (55740) allows local users to overwrite root-owned files during VM restoration. The root-run prl_vmarchiver follows an attacker-created hard link and writes substituted compressed archive data to its root-owned target. A low-privilege macOS account with access to an archived VM can replace its .hds, .mem, or .dmp content and gain root privileges after the overwritten file is acted upon.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-36486
Published
Jun 3, 2025
Updated
Jun 3, 2025
Vendor
Parallels
Product
Parallels Desktop
Classifications
CWE-59, CWE-62, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 3, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=version 20.1.1 (55740)

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Parallels · Parallels Desktopversion=version 20.1.1 (55740)

Published CVSS scores

7.8Cisco TalosCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
CWE-62UNIX Hard Link
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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