Shakabrah

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000


Machine	Shakabrah
Platform	OffSec Proving Grounds
Difficulty	Easy
OS	Linux (Ubuntu)
Learning Path	Web fundamentals / OSWA & OSCP prep
Key Techniques	OS command injection, reverse shell, SUID binary privesc
Est. Time to Complete	~20–30 min

Overview

Shakabrah is a Linux box that comes down to two clean steps. The web server hosts a “Connection Tester” that pings whatever host you give it, and it builds that ping command by pasting your input straight onto a shell, so a shell metacharacter (a character the shell treats specially, like && or ;) turns the box into a command runner. That gets a reverse shell as www-data. From there, a single misconfigured SUID binary, vim.basic, is all it takes to become root. It shows how one unsanitized input and one over-privileged binary are enough to take a host from an open port to root.

Potato

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000


Machine	Potato
Platform	OffSec Proving Grounds (Practice)
Difficulty	Easy
OS	Linux
Learning Path	Web fundamentals / OSCP prep
Key Techniques	PHP type juggling, LFI, hash cracking, sudo wildcard privesc
Est. Time to Complete	~30–45 min

Overview

Potato is an easy-rated Linux box on OffSec Proving Grounds Practice. Despite the low difficulty, it strings together several instructive techniques: an exposed source-code backup leaks the login logic, a PHP type-juggling flaw bypasses authentication, the admin panel’s Logs page is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion, and a careless sudo wildcard rule provides the final step to root. It is a compact box where careful enumeration, not brute force, opens each step.

Linux on Yusuf AlMahmeed

Shakabrah

Overview

Potato

Overview