Individual skill
performing-privilege-escalation-assessment
Performs privilege escalation assessments on compromised Linux and Windows systems to identify paths from low-privilege access to root or SYSTEM-level control. The tester enumerates misconfigurations, vulnerable services, kernel exploits, SUID binaries, unquoted service paths, and credential stores to demonstrate the full impact of an initial compromise. Activates for requests involving privilege escalation testing, local exploitation, post-compromise escalation, or OS-level security assessment.
internal/tools/skills/data/penetration-testing/performing-privilege-escalation-assessment/SKILL.md
Source commit d42f381ad34843e71a42658e5c57290c713e85af
What was checked
- Matches the observed repository HEAD
- Yes
- Scanner rules are current
- Yes
- Repository scan complete
- No
- Skill scan complete
- Yes
- Observed behavior
- Network or broad shell
- Last checked
- Nov 7, 2026
These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.
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Repository context
- Repository stars (not skill ratings)
- 1,309
- Repository last updated
- Nov 7, 2026
- License
- Apache-2.0
Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.
- cybersecurity Repository topic
- security Repository topic
- bug-bounty Repository topic
- automation Repository topic
- autonomous-pentesting Repository topic
- ai-agent Repository topic
- ai-security Repository topic
- ethical-hacking Repository topic
- golang Repository topic
- penetration-testing Repository topic
- privilege-escalation Declared skill tag
- post-exploitation Declared skill tag
- linux-privesc Declared skill tag
- windows-privesc Declared skill tag
- local-exploitation Declared skill tag
- security Derived category
- testing Derived category
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SKILL.mdcore · 14,280 bytes
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# Performing Privilege Escalation Assessment
## When to Use
- After gaining initial low-privilege access during a penetration test to demonstrate full system compromise
- Assessing the security hardening of Linux and Windows servers against local privilege escalation attacks
- Evaluating whether endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools detect common privilege escalation techniques
- Testing the effectiveness of least-privilege policies and application whitelisting on endpoints
- Validating that container breakout and VM escape controls are properly configured
**Do not use** without written authorization, against production systems where exploitation could cause downtime, or for deploying kernel exploits on systems without prior approval and rollback capability.
## Most Often Missed & How to Confirm
- **Run the automated enumeration AND read it** — linPEAS/winPEAS output is long; testers skim and miss the one writable service path or sudo entry. Pair it with manual checks (`sudo -l`, `getcap -r /`, `whoami /priv`).