CVE-2026-54424 Privilege escalation in Parsec
A local attacker can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by manipulating the AppData environment variable in Unity Parsec on Windows.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-54424?
CVE-2026-54424 is a high-severity vulnerability in Unity Parsec, published on 4 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs vulnerability in Unity Parsec on Windows hosts leads to a potential Elevation of Privilege. This issue affects Parsec through v2026-05-04.0. The patched version is Parsec for Windows version 150-104a. A user can generate a situation where there is an instance of parsecd.exe running as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM with a user-controlled value of the AppData environment variable.
Weakness: CWE-648
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-54424?
How do I fix CVE-2026-54424?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-54424 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-54424 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54424 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-f445-7g93-34v9.