As a bug hunter, discovering privilege escalation vulnerabilities is a valuable and lucrative endeavor. However, it can also be a complex and challenging task, as privilege escalation requires a deep understanding of the target's infrastructure and potential attack vectors. In this article, we'll discuss 10 real-world examples of privilege escalation attacks and provide solutions on how to leverage them to maximize your bounties as a bug hunter.

Problem 1: Misconfigured permissions leading to privilege escalation. Many systems are vulnerable to privilege escalation due to misconfigured permissions, such as world-writable files and directories, or weak permissions on sensitive files.

Agitate: Misconfigured permissions can mean missing out on potential bounties and not fully understanding the scope of the target's vulnerabilities.

Solution: As a bug hunter, take the time to thoroughly investigate and understand the target's file system and permissions. Look for world-writable files and directories, and weak permissions on sensitive files. By identifying and exploiting these misconfigurations, you can potentially gain access to sensitive data and increase your chances of finding a vulnerability.

Problem 2: Insecure access controls leading to privilege escalation. Many systems are vulnerable to privilege escalation due to insecure access controls, such as default or easily guessable passwords.

Agitate: Insecure access controls can mean missing out on potential bounties and not fully understanding the scope of the target's vulnerabilities.

Solution: As a bug hunter, take the time to investigate the target's access controls and look for weak or easily guessable passwords. By identifying and exploiting these vulnerabilities, you can potentially gain access to sensitive data and increase your chances of finding a vulnerability.

Problem 3: Insecure file uploads leading to privilege escalation. Many systems are vulnerable to privilege escalation due to insecure file uploads, such as allowing the upload of executable files without proper validation.

Agitate: Insecure file uploads can mean missing out on potential bounties and not fully understanding the scope of the target.

Solution: As a bug hunter, take the time to investigate the target's file upload functionality and look for vulnerabilities such as improper validation or lack of checks on the file types and content. By identifying and exploiting these vulnerabilities, you can potentially upload a malicious file that can be executed to gain privileged access, increasing your chances of finding a vulnerability and increasing your bounties.

Problem 4: Lack of proper validation in API leading to privilege escalation APIs are often the backbone of many web applications and services, and lack of proper validation in the API can lead to privilege escalation.

Agitate: As a bug hunter, missing out on potential vulnerabilities in API can limit your chances of finding privilege escalation bugs.

Solution: As a bug hunter, it's important to investigate and understand the API's endpoint, input validation, and access controls. By finding and exploiting these vulnerabilities, you can potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive data and increase your chances of finding a privilege escalation bug.

Problem 5: Insufficient logging and monitoring leading to privilege escalation. Many systems have inadequate logging and monitoring, which can allow privilege escalation to go undetected.

Agitate: Insufficient logging and monitoring can mean missing out on potential bounties and not fully understanding the scope of the target's vulnerabilities.

Solution: As a bug hunter, it's important to investigate the target's logging and monitoring capabilities. Look for gaps in logging and monitoring that could be exploited to gain privileged access. By identifying these vulnerabilities, you can potentially increase your chances of finding a privilege escalation vulnerability and increase your bounties.

The above examples are just a few of the many ways privilege escalation can occur. As a bug hunter, it's important to stay informed and always be on the lookout for potential vulnerabilities. By understanding the common attack vectors and knowing how to leverage them, you can increase your chances of finding valuable privilege escalation bugs and maximizing your bounties.

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