Is CVE-2020-8871 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2020-8871 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2020-8871 be exploited remotely?

No. CVE-2020-8871 requires local access to exploit.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-8871?

CVE-2020-8871 has a CVSS score of 6.7 (MEDIUM).

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MEDIUM

CVE-2020-8871

CWE-787Published: March 23, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

6.7

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Parallels Desktop 15.1.0-47107 . An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute high-privileged code on the target guest system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the VGA virtual device. 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 hypervisor. Was ZDI-CAN-9403.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2020-8871 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

Exploitation requires high privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 6.7.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-787): Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities can lead to data corruption, crashes, or arbitrary code execution.