Network & System Exploitation
Privilege Escalation
From a low-privilege shell to root/SYSTEM.
Your first shell is usually low-privilege (e.g. www-data). Privilege escalation turns that into full administrative control — root on Linux, SYSTEM on Windows.
Common Linux privesc paths
- Misconfigured sudo — `sudo -l` shows what you can run as root.
- SUID binaries — programs running as their owner (find / -perm -4000).
- Writable cron jobs or scripts that run as root.
- Kernel exploits — for outdated kernels.
- Credentials in config files, history, or environment variables.
sudo -l # what can I run as root?
find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null # SUID binaries
cat ~/.bash_history # leaked commands / creds
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