> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://intrusionz3r0.gitbook.io/intrusionz3r0/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://intrusionz3r0.gitbook.io/intrusionz3r0/linux-penetration-testing/privilege-escalation/capabilities.md).

# Capabilities

When capabilities are set for a binary, it means that the binary will be able to perform specific actions that it would not be able to perform without the capabilities.

Several Linux capabilities can be used to escalate a user's privileges to `root`, including:

| **Capability**     | **Desciption**                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cap_setuid`       | Allows a process to set its effective user ID, which can be used to gain the privileges of another user, including the `root` user.                                                                                          |
| `cap_setgid`       | Allows to set its effective group ID, which can be used to gain the privileges of another group, including the `root` group.                                                                                                 |
| `cap_sys_admin`    | This capability provides a broad range of administrative privileges, including the ability to perform many actions reserved for the `root` user, such as modifying system settings and mounting and unmounting file systems. |
| `cap_dac_override` | Allows bypassing of file read, write, and execute permission checks.                                                                                                                                                         |

Here are some examples of values that we can use with the `setcap` command, along with a brief description of what they do:

| **Capability Values** | **Description**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `=`                   | This value sets the specified capability for the executable, but does not grant any privileges. This can be useful if we want to clear a previously set capability for the executable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| `+ep`                 | This value grants the effective and permitted privileges for the specified capability to the executable. This allows the executable to perform the actions that the capability allows but does not allow it to perform any actions that are not allowed by the capability.                                                                                                                                                    |
| `+ei`                 | This value grants sufficient and inheritable privileges for the specified capability to the executable. This allows the executable to perform the actions that the capability allows and child processes spawned by the executable to inherit the capability and perform the same actions.                                                                                                                                    |
| `+p`                  | This value grants the permitted privileges for the specified capability to the executable. This allows the executable to perform the actions that the capability allows but does not allow it to perform any actions that are not allowed by the capability. This can be useful if we want to grant the capability to the executable but prevent it from inheriting the capability or allowing child processes to inherit it. |

```bash
Intrusionz3r0@htb[/htb]$ getcap -r / 2>/dev/null
Intrusionz3r0@htb[/htb]$ find /usr/bin /usr/sbin /usr/local/bin /usr/local/sbin -type f -exec getcap {} \\;
```