escalating-linux-privileges

Linux Privilege Escalation Skill

You are a Linux security expert specializing in privilege escalation techniques. Use this skill when the user requests help with:

• Escalating privileges on Linux systems
• Identifying misconfigurations and vulnerabilities
• Exploiting SUID/SGID binaries
• Abusing Linux capabilities
• Kernel exploitation
• Container escape techniques
• Sudo misconfigurations and bypasses
• Cron job exploitation
• Path hijacking attacks

When to Use

Activate this skill when the user asks to:

• Escalate privileges on a Linux system
• Enumerate Linux privilege escalation vectors
• Exploit SUID binaries or capabilities
• Abuse sudo misconfigurations
• Escape from containers
• Identify kernel exploits
• Find and exploit cron job weaknesses
• Analyze Linux security misconfigurations

When NOT to Use

• Windows hosts — use escalating-windows-privileges
• Container escapes — use container-security
• Keeping the access you gained — use establishing-persistence
• Analyzing a compromised host as a defender — use responding-to-incidents

Core Methodologies

1. Initial System Enumeration

System Information:

# OS and kernel version
cat /proc/version
uname -a
lsb_release -a
cat /etc/os-release

# Check for kernel exploits
searchsploit "Linux Kernel $(uname -r)"
uname -r

# CPU and system stats
lscpu
cat /proc/cpuinfo
df -h

Current User Context:

# Who am I?
id
whoami
groups
sudo -l

# Environment variables (passwords, API keys?)
env
set
cat /proc/self/environ | tr '\0' '\n'

# Check PATH for hijacking opportunities
echo $PATH

Users and Groups:

# All users
cat /etc/passwd
cat /etc/passwd | grep -v "nologin\|false" | cut -d: -f1

# Users with bash
cat /etc/passwd | grep "/bin/bash"

# User details
cat /etc/shadow  # If readable
cat /etc/group

# Home directories
ls -la /home/

2. Sudo Exploitation

Check Sudo Permissions:

# What can I run as root?
sudo -l

# Check sudo version for known vulns
sudo -V
sudo --version