SolidState

Verified writeups for the SolidState machine of Hack The Box

SolidState

$ tldr James admin password reset → rbash escape → cron job privesc

·	·
Operating system	Linux
Difficulty	Medium
Vector	Linux privesc
IP	10.10.10.51
Retirement date	2020-04-30
Skills	Abusing James Remote Administration Tool Changing a user’s email password Information Leakage Escaping Restricted Bash (rbash) Creating a bash script in order to detect cron jobs (procmon.sh) Abusing Cron Job [Privilege Escalation]

Writeups

Language	Author	Format	Link
🇪🇸 ES	S4vitar	Vídeo	Open
🇬🇧 EN	0xdf	Texto	Open
🇬🇧 EN	IppSec	Vídeo	Open

Skill resources

Curated documentation for each technique listed in the Skills column above. Sources: HackTricks, GTFOBins, PortSwigger, etc.

Skill	Source	Link
Information Leakage	HackTricks	Open
Cron abuse	HackTricks	Open

Related skills worth mastering

Sudo abuse · linPEAS

If you liked this machine, try

• Luke — Linux, Medium
• SneakyMailer — Linux, Medium
• Admirer — Linux, Easy
• Haystack — Linux, Easy
• Jerry — Windows, Easy

---

Comments & tips

Did the official writeup not work? Found a smarter trick? Share it here — comments live in GitHub Discussions.

Last updated: 2026-07-13