Local privilege escalation via appliance path injection
Published Sep 14, 2026 · Updated Sep 14, 2026
Argument injection in prl_disp_service in Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 allows local users to execute programs as root via an appliance path. PrlSrv_InstallAppliance builds one tar command string from sVmParentPath, and QProcess::splitCommand treats a quote in that path as syntax that exposes attacker-controlled tar options. Any local account can reach the world-writable dispatcher socket without a Parallels signature or administrator-group membership, enabling root-level code execution.
Summary
What happened
Argument injection in prl_disp_service in Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 allows local users to execute programs as root via an appliance path. PrlSrv_InstallAppliance builds one tar command string from sVmParentPath, and QProcess::splitCommand treats a quote in that path as syntax that exposes attacker-controlled tar options. Any local account can reach the world-writable dispatcher socket without a Parallels signature or administrator-group membership, enabling root-level code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90894
- Published
- Sep 14, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 14, 2026
- Vendor
- Parallels
- Product
- Parallels Desktop
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 14, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=26.4.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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