leviathan
a4b7238e4a
dirty_pipe detect: active sentinel probe (Phase 1.5-ish improvement)
- New dirty_pipe_active_probe(): creates a /tmp probe file with known
sentinel bytes, fires the Dirty Pipe primitive against it, re-reads
via the page cache, returns true if the poisoning landed.
- detect() gated on ctx->active_probe: --scan does version-only check
(fast, no side effects); --scan --active fires the empirical probe
and overrides version inference with the empirical verdict. Catches
silent distro backports that don't bump uname() version.
- Three verdicts now distinguishable:
(a) version says patched, no active probe → 'patched (version-only)'
(b) version says vulnerable, --active fires + probe lands → CONFIRMED
(c) version says vulnerable, --active fires + probe blocked → 'likely
patched via distro backport'
- Probe is safe: only /tmp, no /etc/passwd.
nf_tables CVE-2024-1086 (detect-only, new module):
- Famous Notselwyn UAF in nft_verdict_init. Affects 5.14 ≤ K, fixed
mainline 6.8 with backports landing in 5.4.269 / 5.10.210 / 5.15.149
/ 6.1.74 / 6.6.13 / 6.7.2.
- detect() checks: kernel version range, AND unprivileged user_ns clone
availability (the exploit's reachability gate — kernel-vulnerable
but userns-locked-down hosts report PRECOND_FAIL, signalling that
the kernel still needs patching but unprivileged path is closed).
- Ships auditd + sigma detection rules: unshare(CLONE_NEWUSER) chained
with setresuid(0,0,0) on a previously-non-root process is the
exploit's canonical telltale.
- Full Notselwyn-style exploit (cross-cache UAF → arbitrary R/W → cred
overwrite or modprobe_path hijack) is the next commit.
9 modules total now. CVES.md and ROADMAP.md updated.
IAMROOT
A curated, actively-maintained corpus of Linux kernel LPE exploits — bundled with their detection signatures, patch status, and version ranges. Run it on a system you own (or are authorized to test) and it tells you which historical and recent CVEs that system is still vulnerable to, and — with explicit confirmation — gets you root.
██╗ █████╗ ███╗ ███╗██████╗ ██████╗ ██████╗ ████████╗
██║██╔══██╗████╗ ████║██╔══██╗██╔═══██╗██╔═══██╗╚══██╔══╝
██║███████║██╔████╔██║██████╔╝██║ ██║██║ ██║ ██║
██║██╔══██║██║╚██╔╝██║██╔══██╗██║ ██║██║ ██║ ██║
██║██║ ██║██║ ╚═╝ ██║██║ ██║╚██████╔╝╚██████╔╝ ██║
╚═╝╚═╝ ╚═╝╚═╝ ╚═╝╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═════╝ ╚═════╝ ╚═╝
⚠️ Authorized testing only. IAMROOT is a research and red-team tool. By using it you assert you have explicit authorization to test the target system. See
docs/ETHICS.md.
What this is
Most Linux LPE references are dead repos, broken PoCs, or single-CVE deep-dives. IAMROOT is a living corpus: each CVE that lands here is empirically verified to work on the kernels it claims to target, CI-tested across a distro matrix, and ships with the detection signatures defenders need to spot it in their environment.
The same binary covers offense and defense:
iamroot --scan— fingerprint the host, report which bundled CVEs apply, and which are blocked by patches/config/LSMiamroot --exploit <CVE>— run the named exploit (with--i-knowauthorization gate)iamroot --detect-rules— dump auditd / sigma / yara rules for every bundled CVE so blue teams can drop them into their toolingiamroot --mitigate— apply temporary mitigations for CVEs the host is vulnerable to (sysctl knobs, module blacklists, etc.)
Status
Active. Bootstrap phase as of 2026-05-16. First module
(copy_fail_family) absorbed from the standalone DIRTYFAIL project
and is verified working end-to-end on Ubuntu 26.04 + Alma 9 + Debian
13 with full AppArmor bypass + container escape demo + persistent
backdoor mode.
See CVES.md for the full curated CVE list with patch
status. See ROADMAP.md for the next planned modules.
Why this exists
The Linux kernel privilege-escalation space is fragmented:
linux-exploit-suggester/linpeas: suggest applicable exploits, don't run themauto-root-exploit/kernelpop: bundle exploits, but largely stale, no CI, no defensive signatures- Per-CVE single-PoC repos: usually one author, often abandoned within months of release, often only one distro
IAMROOT's bet is that there's room for a single curated bundle that (1) actively maintains a small set of high-quality exploits across a multi-distro matrix, and (2) ships detection rules alongside each exploit so the same project serves both red and blue teams.
Architecture
Each CVE (or tightly-related family) is a module under modules/.
Modules export a standard interface: detect(), exploit(),
mitigate(), cleanup(), plus metadata describing affected kernel
ranges, distro coverage, and CI test matrix.
Shared infrastructure (AppArmor bypass, su-exploitation primitives,
fingerprinting, common utilities) lives in core/.
See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the
module-loader design and how to add a new CVE.
Build & run
make # build all modules
sudo ./iamroot --scan # what's this box vulnerable to?
sudo ./iamroot --scan --json # machine-readable output for CI/SOC pipelines
sudo ./iamroot --detect-rules --format=sigma > rules.yml
sudo ./iamroot --exploit copy_fail --i-know # actually run an exploit
Acknowledgments
Each module credits the original CVE reporter and PoC author in its
NOTICE.md. IAMROOT is the bundling and bookkeeping layer; the
research credit belongs to the people who found the bugs.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.