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Privilege Escalation Techniques
Privilege Escalation Techniques

Privilege Escalation Techniques: Learn the art of exploiting Windows and Linux systems

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Privilege Escalation Techniques

Chapter 1: Introduction to Privilege Escalation

Privilege escalation is a vital element of the attack life cycle and is a major determinant in the overall success of a penetration test.

The importance of privilege escalation in the penetration testing process cannot be overstated or overlooked. Developing your privilege escalation skills will mark you out as a good penetration tester. The ability to enumerate information from a target system and utilize this information to identify potential misconfigurations and vulnerabilities that can be exploited to elevate privileges is an essential skill set for any penetration tester.

This chapter aims to give you a clearer picture and understanding of the privilege escalation process and will act as a formal introduction to the various types of privilege escalation techniques, and how the process differs between Windows and Linux systems.

To fully understand and leverage the various privilege escalation tools and techniques, you first need to understand how permissions and privileges are implemented on various operating systems and how these differences in design and implementation affect the privilege escalation process as a whole.

By the end of this chapter, you will have a clear understanding of what privilege escalation is, and you will also understand how permissions are implemented on Windows and Linux systems and get a brief introduction to the various privilege escalation techniques that we will be exploring in depth in the upcoming chapters.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • What is privilege escalation?
  • How permissions and privileges are assigned
  • Understanding the differences between privilege escalation on Windows and Linux
  • Exploring the types of privilege escalation attack

What is privilege escalation?

Privilege escalation is the process of exploiting vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in systems to elevate privileges from one user to another, typically to a user with administrative or root access on a system. Successful privilege escalation allows attackers to increase their control over a system or group of systems that belong to a domain, giving them the ability to make administrative changes, exfiltrate data, modify or damage the operating system, and maintain access through persistence, such as registry edits or cron jobs.

From a penetration tester's perspective, privilege escalation is the next logical step after the successful exploitation of a system and is typically performed by bypassing or exploiting authentication and authorization systems, whose purpose is to segregate user accounts based on their permissions and role.

A typical approach would be to use an initial access or foothold on a system to gain access to resources and functionality that is beyond what the current user account permissions offer. This process is commonly referred to as getting root privileges on a system.

Before we can get started with the various privilege escalation techniques, we need to understand how user accounts and permissions are implemented in modern operating systems.

How permissions and privileges are assigned

To better understand how to elevate privileges, we need to first understand how operating systems are designed in relation to user accounts and privilege.

Operating systems' authorizations are designed to handle multiple users with multiple roles and permissions. This segregation of roles is the primary factor behind the various user account implementation philosophies that are implemented in operating systems today.

This abstraction of user roles and permissions on a system is set up and facilitated by a system called a protection ring, as demonstrated in Figure 1.1. This specifies limits and enforces the functionality of users on a system and their corresponding access to resources.

As the name suggests, a protection ring is a hierarchical protection and segregation mechanism used to provide different levels of access to functionality and resources on a system. The various rings in the hierarchy represent layers of privilege within the operating system, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.1 – Protection ring

Figure 1.1 – Protection ring

The rings in the hierarchy illustrated in Figure 1.1 are sorted and arranged from the most privileged (typically denoted by level 0) to the least privileged, where the least privileged is represented by the highest ring number. This segregation of privileges on a system leads to the adoption of two main roles, as follows:

  • Privileged access: This is typically represented or assigned to the root or administrator account and provides complete access to all system commands and resources. The root or administrator account will typically have access to the following functionality:

    1. The ability to install, uninstall, and modify system software or binaries

    2. The ability to add, modify, or remove users and user groups

    3. The ability to create, access, modify, and delete any system or user data

    4. The ability to access and have control over all system hardware

    5. The ability to access network functionality and networking utilities

    6. The ability to create, manage, and kill system and user processes

  • Unprivileged access: This is typically represented or assigned to non-root or standard user accounts and is limited to a specific set of privileges that are designed and tailored for standard user access on a system. It limits the user functionality to basic tasks and access of user data on the system. Non-root accounts will commonly have the following functionality:

    1. The ability to start and stop user processes and programs

    2. The ability to create, modify, and delete user data

    3. The ability to have access to network functionality

This segregation of permissions highlights the importance of privilege escalation for penetration testers or attackers as it offers total and unparalleled control over a system or, potentially, a group of systems if they can get "root" or administrative access on a system.

Given the nature of privilege escalation attacks in relation to user accounts and permissions, there are two main methods of performing privilege escalation that can be utilized by attackers based on their intentions and objectives, as follows:

  • Horizontal privilege escalation
  • Vertical privilege escalation

We will take a closer look at what they are in the next section.

Horizontal privilege escalation

Horizontal privilege escalation is the process of accessing the functionality or data of other user accounts on a system, as opposed to gaining access to accounts with administrative or root privileges. It primarily involves accessing or authorizing functionality on a system using accounts that are on the same user level of permissions, as opposed to user accounts that are higher up and that have more privileges and permissions.

Attackers or penetration testers would typically perform this type of privilege escalation attack if they were interested in accessing unprivileged user account data or in harvesting user account credentials or password hashes.

Scenario

The following screenshot illustrates a typical account setup on a computer, where we have two unprivileged users and one privileged user. In this case, the two unprivileged users are John and Mike, and the privileged user is Collin:

Figure 1.2 – Horizontal privilege escalation scenario

Figure 1.2 – Horizontal privilege escalation scenario

In this scenario, John is attempting to perform a typical horizontal privilege escalation attack by escalating his user account privileges to the account privileges of Mike. Note that John and Mike are on the same horizontal privilege level.

Figure 1.2 clearly outlines the sole objective of horizontal privilege escalation, the objective being to elevate privileges to user accounts that are on the same horizontal level as the user account performing the attack.

Vertical privilege escalation

Vertical privilege escalation is the process of exploiting a vulnerability in an operating system to gain root or administrative access on a system. This method is usually preferred by attackers and penetration testers as it offers the biggest payout given the permissions and functionality, as they now have total access and control over the system(s).

The following screenshot outlines a bottom-up approach to user account permissions and privileges, where the topmost account has the highest privileges, is the least accessible, and is typically assigned to system administrators. The lowest accounts are set up and configured to be used by standard users and services that require no administrative privileges as part of their daily tasks:

Figure 1.3 – Vertical privilege escalation

Figure 1.3 – Vertical privilege escalation

Figure 1.3 also illustrates a vertical approach to elevating privileges based on the user account and permissions for both Windows and Linux systems, the objective being to laterally move up the pecking order to the account with the highest privileges, therefore giving you complete access to the system.

Important note

Vertical privilege escalation may not solely emanate from the exploitation of a vulnerability within an operating system or service. It is common to find misconfigured systems and services that may allow non-administrative user accounts to run commands or binaries with administrative permissions. We will take a look at the various privilege escalation techniques in the upcoming chapters.

Scenario

The following screenshot illustrates a typical account setup on a computer, where we have two unprivileged users and one privileged user. In this case, the two unprivileged users are John and Mike, and the privileged user is Collin:

Figure 1.4 – Vertical privilege escalation scenario

Figure 1.4 – Vertical privilege escalation scenario

For this scenario, Figure 1.4 illustrates a traditional vertical privilege escalation method where the user John is attempting to elevate privileges to the administrator account, which is Collin's account. If successful, John will get access to administrative privileges and will be able to access all user accounts and files, therefore giving him total access and control over the system. This scenario demonstrates the importance and potential impact of a successful vertical privilege escalation attack.

Now that we have an understanding of the two main privilege escalation methods and how they are orchestrated, we can begin taking a look at the various differences between privilege escalation on Windows and Linux.

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Description

Privilege Escalation Techniques is a detailed guide to privilege escalation techniques and tools for both Windows and Linux systems. This is a one-of-a-kind resource that will deepen your understanding of both platforms and provide detailed, easy-to-follow instructions for your first foray into privilege escalation. The book uses virtual environments that you can download to test and run tools and techniques. After a refresher on gaining access and surveying systems, each chapter will feature an exploitation challenge in the form of pre-built virtual machines (VMs). As you progress, you will learn how to enumerate and exploit a target Linux or Windows system. You’ll then get a demonstration on how you can escalate your privileges to the highest level. By the end of this book, you will have gained all the knowledge and skills you need to be able to perform local kernel exploits, escalate privileges through vulnerabilities in services, maintain persistence, and enumerate information from the target such as passwords and password hashes.

Who is this book for?

If you’re a pentester or a cybersecurity student interested in learning how to perform various privilege escalation techniques on Windows and Linux systems – including exploiting bugs and design flaws – then this book is for you. You’ll need a solid grasp on how Windows and Linux systems work along with fundamental cybersecurity knowledge before you get started.

What you will learn

  • Understand the privilege escalation process and set up a pentesting lab
  • Gain an initial foothold on the system
  • Perform local enumeration on target systems
  • Exploit kernel vulnerabilities on Windows and Linux systems
  • Perform privilege escalation through password looting and finding stored credentials
  • Get to grips with performing impersonation attacks
  • Exploit Windows services such as the secondary logon handle service to escalate Windows privileges
  • Escalate Linux privileges by exploiting scheduled tasks and SUID binaries

Product Details

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Publication date : Nov 25, 2021
Length: 340 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781801078870
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Offensive Security
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Product Details

Publication date : Nov 25, 2021
Length: 340 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781801078870
Vendor :
Offensive Security
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

17 Chapters
Section 1: Gaining Access and Local Enumeration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Introduction to Privilege Escalation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Setting Up Our Lab Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Gaining Access (Exploitation) Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: Performing Local Enumeration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 2: Windows Privilege Escalation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Windows Kernel Exploits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Impersonation Attacks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Windows Password Mining Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Exploiting Services Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: Privilege Escalation through the Windows Registry Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section 3: Linux Privilege Escalation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Linux Kernel Exploits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 11: Linux Password Mining Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 12: Scheduled Tasks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 13: Exploiting SUID Binaries Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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N/A Feb 21, 2024
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Pubblicazioni interessanti scritti con il giusto livello tecnico ma soprattutto in modo chiaro.
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Tyshic May 03, 2022
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This book by Alexis is excellent his straight up approach to explaining escalations others are too complex. worth buying.
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Steve Torok Dec 05, 2021
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I've purchased several ebooks and video courses over the years and I must say that most of them contain about the same type of information, however the biggest difference among them is how well they can transmit this information to the reader or viewer and this is where and this is where this product stands out IMO. Easy to read and understand, very well structured so it's a breeze to look up something you need and because of it's size you can take it with you wherever you go and just browse it in your free time or when travelling. Really well written, I can't recommend it enough.
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CL Nov 26, 2021
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I'm a red team instructor and got a preview copy of the book to review.I am thoroughly impressed.The subject of the book is not what many consider introductory for cybersecurity. But, Alexis Ahmed does an amazing job breaking down the concepts to their lowest level to make this book as accessible as possible to the reader.This makes the book far more than a field guide. And, while including instructions and walkthrough for setting up labs and the tools used throughout the book, it is far more than just an introduction.Anyone who reads and completes the labs in this book should be quite well prepared to start a penetration testing journey. With this knowledge and these skills in hand, the next step is repetition and mastery.
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