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A critical local privilege-escalation flaw, CVE-2026-90894 (“ParaShells”), in Parallels Desktop for Mac allows a standard local user or unprivileged process to execute arbitrary code as root. The vulnerability affects the root-privileged prl_disp_service host daemon and was confirmed in Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 build 57513 on Apple Silicon Macs.
The exploit chain abuses a world-writable Unix socket, insufficient local-client authentication, and tar argument injection during the appliance-installation workflow to turn appliance deployment into a root shell. Parallels fixed the issue in version 27.0.0; organizations should upgrade immediately and consider systems running build 57513 with a world-writable dispatcher socket exposed until remediation is verified.
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Parallels remediated CVE-2026-90894 by releasing Parallels Desktop version 27.0.0. Systems using build 57513 with a world-writable prl_disp_service socket were advised to upgrade and be treated as exposed until remediation is verified.
Researchers confirmed CVE-2026-90894 (“ParaShells”) in Parallels Desktop 26.4.0 build 57513 on Apple Silicon Macs. The flaw lets an unprivileged local process connect to the root-run prl_disp_service through a potentially world-writable socket and use tar argument injection during appliance installation to execute code as root.
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Apple disclosed security fixes in **macOS Mojave 10.14.4**, **Security Update 2019-002 High Sierra**, and **Security Update 2019-002 Sierra** that addressed local privilege-escalation flaws in Time Machine diagnostic components. Public research later detailed a command injection bug, tracked as **`CVE-2019-8513`**, affecting macOS **10.12.x through 10.14.3**, where a local user could abuse the `timemachinehelper` XPC service and the `tmdiagnose` utility to execute arbitrary shell commands as **root**. The exploit reportedly worked by crafting a mounted disk image label so shell metacharacters were injected into a command built from `diskutil` output, ultimately yielding a root shell after diagnostic tasks completed. The same research also described a related arbitrary file overwrite issue in XPC helpers, assigned **`CVE-2019-8530`**, and noted it could previously be chained with an older `sudo` timestamp weakness; the findings echoed earlier public work on browser-to-system compromise and underscored how trusted macOS helper services could be leveraged for full system takeover.
Aug 1, 2026
Researchers disclosed a critical pre-authentication remote code execution flaw in Apple’s `screensharingd` daemon affecting macOS 26.5 and earlier when Screen Sharing is enabled. The bug lies in SRP frame-length validation: an oversized frame can trigger a residual success status, causing the service to treat authentication as completed and enter the post-authentication message loop without performing key exchange or establishing session cryptography. Public write-ups describe the issue as reachable over a single TCP connection and capable of bypassing authentication entirely. The reported impact includes writing attacker-controlled files and escalating to **root** code execution, with one account saying the flaw was confirmed on a Mac mini M4 running macOS 26.3 and that exploitation can be intermittent depending on heap layout. Separate reporting also mentioned an additional SRP zero-key weakness that was not exploited in the demonstrated attack chain. Apple reportedly addressed the primary vulnerability in macOS 26.6 by correctly propagating the error code in `screensharingd`, closing the path to unauthenticated remote compromise.
Aug 10, 2026
A researcher disclosed a three-bug macOS local privilege escalation chain that let an unprivileged user escalate to **root**, bypass **System Integrity Protection (SIP)**, and ultimately achieve kernel code execution on systems before `macOS 10.15.5`. The first flaw was in `authd`, where Authorization Services trusted entitlement data returned by `SecCodeCopySigningInformation` without first validating the caller’s code signature, allowing forged entitlements such as `com.apple.private.AuthorizationServices` to unlock privileged authorization rights. The chain then abused Apple-signed package installation through **PackageKit** and a vulnerable post-install script in `macOSPublicBetaAccessUtility.pkg` to execute code as root under `system_installd`, inheriting the `com.apple.rootless.install.heritable` entitlement and bypassing SIP. A third flaw in `kextutil` used a race condition to swap a verified Apple-signed kernel extension staged in `/Library/StagedExtensions/private` before loading; use of the `-interactive` flag made the race reliable enough to load malicious kernel code. The bugs were reported to Apple in 2020, and Apple addressed the issues in `macOS 10.15.6` and `tvOS 13.4.5`, including a change so `SecCodeCopySigningInformation` verifies signatures directly.
Jul 24, 2026