CVE-2007-2454
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in the VGA device in Parallels allows local users, with root access to the guest operating system, to terminate the virtual machine and possibly execute arbitrary code in the host operating system via unspecified vectors related to bitblt operations.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in Parallels' VGA device emulation allows a root-level user in the guest OS to trigger the vulnerability through unspecified bitblt (bit block transfer) graphics operations, potentially escaping VM isolation to execute code on the host system.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Parallels Desktop is installedCheck for Parallels Desktop installation by looking for the application in /Applications or examining system processes for 'prl_client_app' or 'Parallels Desktop' processesAffected if Parallels Desktop is installed and running on the system
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Determine installed Parallels Desktop versionRun 'ls /Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/Info.plist' and look for CFBundleVersion or CFBundleShortVersionString, or use 'prlctl --version' if availableAffected if Any version of Parallels Desktop is installed (all versions are affected)
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Identify running guest virtual machinesRun 'prlctl list -a' or check the Parallels hypervisor for active VM instancesAffected if Any guest VM is running on the Parallels host
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Check for VGA emulation device attached to guestsExamine VM configuration via 'prlctl list -i <vmname>' and look for display or VGA device settings, or inspect VM .pvs configuration files for 'graphics' or 'vga' device entriesAffected if A guest VM has the Parallels VGA display device configured and active
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Audit guest OS user privilegesWithin each guest VM, check for root-level or privileged users using 'id' or examining /etc/passwd and /etc/sudoersAffected if A guest VM contains any root-level or privileged user account that could trigger the bitblt overflow
The environment is affected if Parallels Desktop is installed and running any guest virtual machines with VGA emulation enabled, since a root-level user inside a guest could exploit the buffer overflow to escape to the host.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor patches from Parallels; limit trusted local users in guest operating systems; consider additional isolation layers such as running VMs with minimal privileges.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,928.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-2454 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-2454 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data