{"id":59850,"date":"2025-08-03T14:42:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T14:42:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-26T20:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T02:58:42","slug":"cve-2024-52561-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-for-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-52561-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-for-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2024-52561: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Parallels Desktop for Mac<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The cybersecurity landscape is fraught with potential pitfalls and vulnerabilities, one of which has recently emerged in the form of CVE-2024-52561. This is a privilege escalation vulnerability that has been identified in the Snapshot functionality of Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1 (build 55740). The vulnerability has significant implications for Mac users who rely on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-54189-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-for-mac-snapshot-functionality\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"69799\">Parallels Desktop<\/a> for running virtual machines, as it exposes them to potential system compromise and data leakage. The severity and potential impact of this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-40738-critical-arbitrary-file-write-vulnerability-in-sinec-nms\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"66592\">vulnerability underline the critical<\/a> need for timely mitigation measures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2024-52561<br \/>\nSeverity: High (7.8 CVSS Severity Score)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: Required<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-31278-memory-corruption-vulnerability-with-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"70417\">Potential system<\/a> compromise or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-4221036507\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-36486-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-parallels-desktop-vm-archive-restoration\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"70911\">Parallels Desktop<\/a> for Mac | 20.1.1 (build 55740)<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When a snapshot of a virtual machine is deleted in the vulnerable version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, a root <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-52809-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-national-weather-service-alerts\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"66593\">service verifies and modifies the ownership of the snapshot files<\/a>. Herein lies the vulnerability: an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-42959-unauthenticated-replay-attack-exploiting-hmac-reuse\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"79703\">attacker can exploit<\/a> this functionality by using a symlink to change the ownership of root-owned files to a lower-privilege user. This manipulation can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7695-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-dataverse-integration-plugin-for-wordpress\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"69162\">privilege escalation<\/a>, potentially allowing the attacker to execute actions with administrative privileges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-690791904\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>An attacker might exploit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7097-critical-command-injection-vulnerability-in-comodo-internet-security-premium\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"68308\">vulnerability using a shell command<\/a> like the conceptual example below:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\"># Create a symbolic link to a root-owned file\nln -s \/root\/owned\/file \/path\/to\/snapshot\/files\n# Trigger the deletion of a snapshot\n# The root service verifies and modifies the ownership of the snapshot files,\n# inadvertently changing the ownership of the root-owned file due to the symlink.\ndelete_snapshot<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users of Parallels <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47136-integer-underflow-vulnerability-in-indesign-desktop-versions-leading-to-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"79702\">Desktop for Mac version<\/a> 20.1.1 (build 55740) are advised to apply the vendor patch to mitigate this vulnerability. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, interim measures such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-31100-unrestricted-file-upload-leads-to-web-shell-deployment-in-mojoomla-school-management\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"84721\">deploying a Web<\/a> Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) could serve as temporary mitigation. However, such measures will not completely eliminate the risk, and the patch should be applied as soon as practicable.<br \/>\nIn the longer term, organizations should also consider implementing a robust <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-41687-stack-based-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-u-link-management-api\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"68307\">vulnerability management<\/a> program that includes regular scanning and patching to minimize the risk of exposure to such vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The cybersecurity landscape is fraught with potential pitfalls and vulnerabilities, one of which has recently emerged in the form of CVE-2024-52561. This is a privilege escalation vulnerability that has been identified in the Snapshot functionality of Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1 (build 55740). The vulnerability has significant implications for Mac users who rely [&hellip;]<\/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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[76],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-59850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","attack_vector-privilege-escalation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77506,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59850\/revisions\/77506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=59850"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=59850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}