CVE-2021-31427
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 disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Parallels Desktop 15.1.5-47309. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target guest system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Open Tools Gate component. The issue results from the lack of proper locking when performing operations on an object. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of the hypervisor. Was ZDI-CAN-13082.
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 confidenceThis is a race condition vulnerability in Parallels Desktop's Open Tools Gate component. The flaw stems from improper locking mechanisms when performing operations on objects, allowing a low-privileged attacker with guest system code execution to potentially escalate privileges to the hypervisor level when chained with other vulnerabilities.
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= 15.1.5-47309CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
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.
-
Confirm Parallels Desktop is installedCheck for the Parallels Desktop application in /Applications folder on macOS, or query installed applications via system utilitiesAffected if Parallels Desktop is not installed on the system
-
Identify installed Parallels Desktop versionOpen Parallels Desktop and navigate to Parallels Desktop menu > About Parallels Desktop, or run: defaults read /Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleVersionAffected if Version matches 15.1.5-47309 exactly
-
Verify Open Tools Gate component statusCheck if Parallels Tools (formerly Open Tools) are installed and running in the guest virtual machine. Inspect guest VM configuration for installed tools.Affected if Parallels Tools/Open Tools are installed and active in any guest VM
-
Assess guest VM code execution riskReview whether untrusted or potentially malicious code can execute within any guest virtual machines running on this installationAffected if Untrusted code execution is permitted within guest virtual machines
User is affected if Parallels Desktop version 15.1.5-47309 is installed AND Parallels Tools/Open Tools are enabled in guest VMs, with potential for untrusted code execution inside those guests.
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 available vendor patches for Parallels Desktop. Additionally, minimize the attack surface by restricting execution of untrusted code within guest virtual machines and keeping guest systems hardened.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $6,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31427 — 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-2021-31427 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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