{"id":59849,"date":"2025-08-03T13:42:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T13:42:12","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-02T23:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T05:37:21","slug":"cve-2024-36486-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-vm-archive-restoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-36486-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-vm-archive-restoration\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2024-36486: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Parallels Desktop VM Archive Restoration<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the dynamic field of cybersecurity, it’s crucial to keep up to speed with the latest vulnerabilities that could pose a threat to your system’s integrity. This blog post focuses on a recently disclosed vulnerability, CVE-2024-36486, identified in Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1. This vulnerability is of significant concern due to its potential to escalate privileges, leading to system<\/a> compromise or data leakage. Parallels Desktop<\/a> is a popular choice for running Windows on Mac, which makes this vulnerability relevant to a wide range of users, both individual and corporate.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2024-36486
\nSeverity: High (CVSS: 7.8)
\nAttack Vector: Local
\nPrivileges Required: Low
\nUser Interaction: Required
\nImpact: Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Parallels Desktop for Mac<\/a> | Version 20.1.1 (55740)<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The exploit takes advantage of a privilege escalation vulnerability<\/a> that occurs during the restoration of a virtual machine archive in Parallels Desktop. Specifically, the prl_vmarchiver tool, which is used to decompress the file and write<\/a> the content back to its original location, does so using root privileges. An attacker can exploit<\/a> this process by creating a hard link to write to any file of their choosing. By directing the decompression operation to a different location, an attacker can potentially gain escalated privileges<\/a> within the system.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s a simplified example of how an attacker might exploit the vulnerability:<\/p>\n

# Attacker creates a hard link to a sensitive file\nln \/path\/to\/sensitive\/file \/path\/to\/restore\/location\n# Attacker initiates the VM restoration process\nprl_vmarchiver restore \/path\/to\/restore\/location<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this example, `prl_vmarchiver` would restore the VM archive content to `\/path\/to\/restore\/location`, but due to the hard link, also overwrite the sensitive file at `\/path\/to\/sensitive\/file` with the same content, potentially granting the attacker escalated privileges<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Mitigation and Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n
It’s recommended to apply the vendor patch as soon as it’s available to fix this vulnerability<\/a>. In the meantime, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation method. Regularly updating software, monitoring system logs, and limiting user privileges can help prevent future exploitation of similar vulnerabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview In the dynamic field of cybersecurity, it’s crucial to keep up to speed with the latest vulnerabilities that could pose a threat to your system’s integrity. This blog post focuses on a recently disclosed vulnerability, CVE-2024-36486, identified in Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1. This vulnerability is of significant concern due to its potential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[82],"product":[],"attack_vector":[76],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-microsoft","attack_vector-privilege-escalation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t