What is CVE-2026-90894?

CVE-2026-90894 is Parallels Desktop local privilege escalation via appliance extract argument injection. The supplied enrichment data classifies it as Remote Code Exec mapped to CWE-88 CWE-88; CWE-78 OS Command Injection; CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management.

Which versions are affected?

Affected product and version evidence is listed in the product table above. Current public advisories should be checked for exact version scope before patch targeting is finalized.

Is there active exploitation?

Active exploitation is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-90894. If exploitation is not confirmed from current sources, teams should document that status and continue monitoring KEV, vendor, and telemetry updates.

No. CVE-2026-90894 is not listed in CISA KEV in the supplied enrichment data. KEV status should be monitored because it can change after initial disclosure or after exploitation becomes publicly confirmed.

Is there a public exploit?

A public PoC is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-90894. Public exploit or PoC availability should raise triage priority, especially for exposed or business-critical systems.

How can defenders detect it?

Start with EDR process telemetry, host service logs where available. Look for vulnerability-class behavior, product errors, suspicious authentication events, exploit probes, and abnormal process activity based only on evidence that applies to the affected product.

How should teams prioritize it?

Prioritize CVE-2026-90894 using CVSS 7.8, EPSS 0%, KEV status, public PoC status, and asset exposure. Internet-facing, privileged, or business-critical deployments should be handled first.

Are workarounds available?

Workarounds are not confirmed from current sources. Fixed-version evidence is listed in the mitigation section above.

Which threat actors are linked publicly?

No public threat actor linkage is confirmed from current sources. Do not attribute exploitation to a threat actor unless the source evidence explicitly supports that linkage.

What should be done in the next 24 hours?

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations. Prioritize based on EPSS, PoC availability, and external exposure. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class. Open remediation tickets with affected assets, owners, evidence status, and detection coverage so decisions are traceable.

highRemote Code Exec

CVE-2026-90894

CVE-2026-90894 — Parallels Desktop local privilege escalation via appliance extract argument injection

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.

Published Sep 14, 2026Updated Sep 14, 2026Sources: NVD, Parallels (CNA), GitHub, SOCRadar CTI

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Unreported

no source claims exploitation

EPSS

ahead of 0% of scored CVEs

Affects

Parallels

2 products listed

CVSS base

7.8

high

CISA SSVC assessment

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

CISA

Exploitation

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

The vendor's own words where we have them.

Upgrade to Parallels Desktop 27.0.1 or later.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record's own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found.

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations.
Prioritize based on EPSS, PoC availability, and external exposure.
Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and version as the advisories word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
Parallels	Parallels Desktop for Mac	26.4.0	Vulnerable
Parallels	Parallels Desktop for Mac	27.0.1	Patched

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Availability

High

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Scope

Unchanged

Attack Complexity

Low

Attack Vector

Local

Privileges Req

Low

User Interaction

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Source
7.8	CVSS 3.1	high	1.8	5.9	jfrog.com (CNA), Parallels (CNA)

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

What this weakness leads to

MITRE's own consequences and mitigations for the weakness class — the authority's wording, not guidance derived from the CVSS vector.

MITRE

CWE-88 · Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Alter Execution Logic
Read Application Data
Modify Application Data

Mitigation: Where possible, avoid building a single string that contains the command and its arguments. Some languages or frameworks have functions that support specifying independent arguments, e.g. as an array, which is used to automatically perform the appropriate quoting or escaping while building the command. For example, in PHP, escapeshellarg() can be used to escape a single argument to system(), or exec() can be called with an array of arguments. In C, code can often be refactored from using system() - which accepts a single string - to using exec(), which requires separate function arguments for each parameter.

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

Gain Privileges or Assume Identity::

Mitigation: Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.

Weakness & attack patterns

CWE-88
CWE-78OS Command Injection
CWE-269Improper Privilege Management

Attack patterns reported against this CVE. The ATT&CK techniques below are inferred from its weakness class.

CAPEC-41 · Using Meta-characters in E-mail Headers to Inject Malicious PayloadsCAPEC-137 · Parameter InjectionCAPEC-174 · Flash Parameter InjectionCAPEC-460 · HTTP Parameter Pollution (HPP)CAPEC-88 · OS Command Injection

T1548Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

Search application, proxy, and WAF logs for requests touching /var/run/prl_disp_service.socket.

EDR process telemetryhost service logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first — with the readings a source repeats on a schedule counted underneath rather than listed.

2026
Added · CVSS 3.1 7.8 (AV:L)
Sep 14, 2026 · NVD
Initial · CVE published
Sep 14, 2026 · NVD
CVE published by MITRE.
Sep 14, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI

References

2 on the record

kb.parallels.com/en/131168
Vendor Advisory, Mitre
www.parallels.com/products/desktop/
Vendor Advisory, Mitre

Coverage

1 story from the feeds we poll

Parallels Desktop flaw hands any local user root on a Mac (CVE-2026-90894)
Help Net Security · Sep 16, 2026

Elsewhere on this site

Parallelsevery CVE for this vendor
Remote Code Execsame class
CWE-88other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record1

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-90894 is Parallels Desktop local privilege escalation via appliance extract argument injection, a high vulnerability affecting Parallels Desktop for Mac from Parallels. The current evidence does not list it in CISA KEV, and the exploit status is: Active exploitation is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-90894. Public exploit evidence is: A public PoC is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-90894. The affected-version evidence is listed in the key facts and affected products tables. Defenders should first verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run those versions, then apply vendor patches or mitigations, restrict reachable attack surface, and preserve logs for detection review. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity, while EPSS 0% helps estimate near-term exploit likelihood; neither replaces asset context. Unknown fields should remain explicit in tickets, and threat actor, IOC, victimology, or payload claims should not be added unless a cited source supports them. Monitor CISA KEV, vendor advisories, NVD changes, public PoC repositories, and internal telemetry for update triggers.