Linux Privilege Escalation via Python3: Import Hijacking and LD_PRELOAD Injection Explained

Summary

This article provides a technical deep dive into Linux privilege escalation techniques involving Python3, specifically focusing on two attack vectors: Python import hijacking and LD_PRELOAD injection. It explains how the sudo command with the SETENV tag allows users to preserve environment variables when running commands as root, and how an attacker can exploit this to hijack Python's import process or inject malicious shared libraries. The article includes step-by-step exploitation guides, real commands, and code examples demonstrating how to achieve arbitrary code execution with root privileges through these methods.