Privilege Escalation
Privilege escalation techniques for penetration testing covering Linux and Windows privilege escalation methods. Learn to exploit misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and weak permissions to gain root or administrator access on compromised systems.
Privilege Escalation Methodology
Modern privilege escalation follows a prioritized workflow, starting with quick wins and progressing to more complex techniques:
- Quick Checks - Fast enumeration for common misconfigurations (sudo, SUID, capabilities)
- Automated Enumeration - Run tools like LinPEAS for comprehensive analysis
- Manual Enumeration - Deep dive based on findings (cron, writable files, services)
- Advanced Techniques - Kernel exploits, container escapes (higher risk, last resort)
In this section
- Linux
Complete Linux privilege escalation guide for penetration testing and ethical hacking. Learn sudo abuse, SUID/SGID exploitation, kernel exploits, capabilities, cron jobs, systemd timers, and automated enumeration with LinPEAS to gain root access on compromised Linux systems.