Knife

Platform: HackTheBox | Difficulty: Easy | OS: Ubuntu Author: D3v0o0Nu11 | Date: 2026-02-10 | Status: Solved

Summary

Walkthrough of the HackTheBox machine Knife (Ubuntu, attack surface: Apache httpd 2.4.41 ((Ubuntu)) (80), OpenSSH 8.2p1 Ubuntu 4ubuntu0.2 (Ubuntu Linux; protocol 2.0) (22)). Foothold via the vulnerable entry point; privilege escalation to root. Both flags captured and redacted.

Recon

Port scan

 bash read-only • copy allowed Copy
nmap -p- -sVC 10.10.10.242 --min-rate 1000

Enumeration highlights

• Detected OS: Ubuntu.
• Open services: http (80), ssh (22).
• Scan used: nmap -p- -sVC 10.10.10.242 --min-rate 1000.

Foothold

Vulnerability / Misconfiguration

(No detailed foothold narrative in source writeup.)

Proof

User flag: REDACTED

Privilege Escalation

User -> Root/Admin

whoami

root

Root flag: REDACTED

Flags

Lessons Learned

1. Enumerate everything; version strings map to CVEs.
2. Confirm each hypothesis with a test before building the exploit.
3. Chain foothold -> privilege escalation mechanically.