# 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.

- **Severity:** High 8.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 6 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-f445-7g93-34v9

## 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 (Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs)

## 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:

- Exploiting Parsec for Windows to gain SYSTEM privileges (github_poc): https://github.com/tomadimitrie/CVE-2026-54424

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-54424 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54424 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Unity Parsec. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54424/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54424/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54424
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54424
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-54424

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54424/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.