Parallels Desktop local privilege escalation via appliance extract argument injection
CVE-2026-90894 is fixed in Parallels Desktop on 1 platform by Parallels Desktop 26.4.1 (version 26.4.1), released August 3, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.
Parallels Desktop runs prl_disp_service as root. Local clients reach it on the world-writable socket /var/run/prl_disp_service.socket. PrlSrv_LoginLocal accepts peer credentials. No Parallels signature. No admin group. After login, PrlSrv_InstallAppliance lets you pick the appliance folder (sVmParentPath). The daemon unpacks with one string, tar -xf "%1" -C "%2", then Qt QProcess::splitCommand chops that string into words. A quote in the folder name closes early. The leftover text becomes extra tar flags. macOS tar --use-compress-program= runs the named program as root.
Where it's fixed
| Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS | |||
| Parallels Desktop | 26.4.1 | Parallels Desktop 26.4.1 | Aug 3, 2026 |
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