CVE-2020-8875
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Parallels Desktop 15.1.2-47123. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the IOCTL handler. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a write past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute code in the context of the kernel. Was ZDI-CAN-10028.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow in the IOCTL handler of Parallels Desktop 15.1.2-47123 allows local attackers with low-privileged code execution to write past the end of an allocated buffer, escalating privileges to kernel level and executing arbitrary code in kernel context.
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 data< 15.1.3CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 running parallels processes (prl_client_app, prl_server, parallels) or look for installation at /Applications/Parallels Desktop.app or C:\Program Files\Parallels\Parallels Desktop\Affected if Parallels Desktop software is present on the system
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Determine installed Parallels Desktop versionRun: parallels --version or prlctl --version on Linux/Mac; on Windows check file version of C:\Program Files\Parallels\Parallels Desktop\bin\prl_client_app.exeAffected if Version is 15.1.2-47123 or any version lower than 15.1.3
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Confirm vulnerable IOCTL handler is accessibleThe IOCTL handler vulnerability requires the Parallels kernel extension (prl*) to be loaded; verify with: lsmod | grep prl (Linux), kextstat | grep parallels (Mac), or sc query type= driver (Windows)Affected if Parallels kernel modules/drivers are loaded and active
User is affected if Parallels Desktop version is below 15.1.3 AND the Parallels hypervisor kernel modules are loaded and active on the system.
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 data15.1.3
Apply vendor-supplied patch or update Parallels Desktop to a version beyond 15.1.2-47123; verify no regressions in virtualization functionality after update.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8875 — 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-2020-8875 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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