Busybox Su Must Be Suid To Work Properly !!top!! Jun 2026

Some distributions create separate symlinks (e.g., /bin/su → /bin/busybox ) and then set SUID on that symlink. Linux respects SUID on symlinks only in certain configurations – another source of confusion.

$ ls -l /bin/su lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 /bin/su -> /bin/busybox busybox su must be suid to work properly

is a special file permission that allows a program to execute with the privileges of the file's owner rather than the user running it. Some distributions create separate symlinks (e

The critical step here is escalating privilege . A normal user process (e.g., your current shell running as UID 1000) cannot, on its own, create a process with UID 0 (root). Only the kernel can elevate UID, and it only does so in specific, controlled ways. Some distributions create separate symlinks (e.g.