CVE-2024-52561 Privilege escalation in Parallels Desktop for Mac
An attacker can escalate privileges by exploiting a symlink vulnerability in the snapshot deletion process of Parallels Desktop for Mac.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2024-52561?
CVE-2024-52561 is a high-severity vulnerability in Parallels Parallels Desktop, published on 3 Jun 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Snapshot functionality of Parallels Desktop for Mac version 20.1.1 (build 55740). When a snapshot of a virtual machine is deleted, a root service verifies and modifies the ownership of the snapshot files. By using a symlink, an attacker can change the ownership of files owned by root to a lower-privilege user, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-52561?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Parallels Parallels Desktop.
How do I fix CVE-2024-52561?
No fix has been published for CVE-2024-52561 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2024-52561 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-52561 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in Parallels Parallels Desktop
Sources
Also known as GHSA-h429-pw2c-7w4q.