CVE-2024-36486

HIGH
Published Jun 3, 2025 Modified Jul 2, 2025 CWE-62 CWE-59

Description

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the virtual machine archive restoration functionality of Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1 (55740). When an archived virtual machine is restored, the prl_vmarchiver tool decompresses the file and writes the content back to its original location using root privileges. An attacker can exploit this process by using a hard link to write to an arbitrary file, potentially resulting in privilege escalation.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

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

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-62 CWE-62
CWE-59 CWE-59

Affected Products

Vendor Product
parallels parallels_desktop

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-36486? +
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the virtual machine archive restoration functionality of Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1 (55740). When an archived virtual machine is restored, the prl_vmarchiver tool decompresses the file and writes the content back to its original location using root privileges. An attacker can exploit this process by using a hard link to write to an arbitrary file, potentially resulting in privilege escalation. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2024-36486? +
CVE-2024-36486 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-36486? +
CVE-2024-36486 affects products from parallels, specifically: parallels_desktop. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-36486? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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