Rooting A Linux System 101

So you want to root a linux system? But, you don't know shit about it?

Well, this guide is for you.

Tools covered by this guide
-----------------------
netcat [utility for creating a backdoor shell, but can be used for a plethora of other things]
gcc [c program compiler, the heart of exploits]
rm [for clearing those pesky logs]
other basic commands [ls, grep, vi (cool people use vi), etc etc.]


Step one [Getting in]
----------------------

Getting access to an exploitable server.

Believe it or not, this isn't as hard as it sounds, generally most webpages run on one of two operating systems:
a *nix derivative [BSD, Debian, Ubuntu, etc] or windows server

Most servers are simple "guess a password or bruteforce until you get in".

Step two [Basic Recon and Log Clearing]
-------------------------

So, you've accessed a server under a lowly user account, great.
You're probably saying to yourself "Time to exploit and get this shit going."
Well, if you want to get caught and your access removed, go right on ahead, otherwise, we got some shit to cover.

a) You want to get rid of .bash_history [or .sh_history for BSD], on your local account.

There are two methods to do this:

ln -s ./.bash_history /dev/null

This invokes the link command to link ./.bash_history [you're current working directory, which if you followed my commands, is your exploited users home dir] to /dev/null, which in essence, is nothing.

and, my favourite:

ln -s ./.bash_history /dev/urandom

which links .bash_history to /dev/urandom, which is a large file that contains nothing but gibberish.

If an unwitting sysadmin were to grep it, they could potentially crash their ssh app [if it's putty], or in my personal experiences, cause weird graphical glitches that would remain until you restarted the ssh client.

you want to check for any monitoring software and either br