Delegate: sub-agent exploit-run

Hand a fiddly, fully-specified exploit-compile or escalation run to a cheap sub-agent so the main agent stays on strategy and the board.

When to delegate / when NOT

Delegate when a foothold plus a WORKING escalation vector is identified, or the step itself is a fiddly fully-specified multi-step compile/run: compile a C PoC, deliver and run an ELF, drive su/sudo/screen -r, msfvenom + multi/handler catch. Keep on the main agent: recon, judgement- heavy vector selection, anything not fully specified. An unconfirmed vector is not a delegation, it is a guess wearing a checklist.

Model choice

haiku is the DEFAULT for a fully-specified mechanical or wait-heavy run: compile-and-run a known exploit, deliver an ELF, decrypt a credential store, a pspy/tcpdump watch window, a fixed-payload flag-read. On CTF and RoE-approved pentests the safety bar for a cheap model executing an exploit is already cleared, so lean into haiku there and keep the main model on strategy. Step UP to sonnet only for a genuinely judgement-heavy multi-step run (a JS-heavy per-route-CSRF authed backend RCE).

NEVER delegate DISCOVERY or judgement to a cheap model: route/endpoint/token discovery, "is this surface empty or am I querying it wrong", vector selection. A cheap model hardens a wrong negative into a fact -- it reports "empty/dead" from a query mistake and you inherit it as a hard exclusion (a real miss: a delegated agent called a UCP voicemail "empty" because it hit the AJAX endpoint, not the dashboard widget that rendered the secret; that fossilized into a wrong "rabbit hole" and cost an hour+). If the run is not fully specified, it is not a delegation, it is a guess wearing a checklist, keep it on the main model. Re-verify any NEGATIVE a sub-agent returns before it becomes a Deadend.

The checklist (a delegation is only as good as its checklist)

Every delegation needs all six slots filled. Under-specify one and the sub-agent flails; that is the usual failure mode, not a weak sub-agent.

• (a) confirmed access/primitive, spelled out; don't make the sub-agent rediscover it.
• (b) exact copy-paste commands, real IPs/paths inline, no $VAR; the sub-agent cannot watch a live terminal to sanity-check a substitution.
• (c) egress/port constraints, an egress-tested LPORT, not a guess at 4444.
• (d) the false-root guardrail (next section), non-negotiable.
• (e) fragile-box discipline if applicable: serial requests, long timeouts, no fuzzers.
• (f) report-back contract: return the primitive/creds/flag plus evidence path; do not pivot further without the main agent.
• (g) anti-give-up + no-guess: run the FULL specified window (a 5-minute pspy watch is 5 minutes, not 2); if blocked, report the RAW output/errors and STOP, never guess or substitute a value and never invent a result. A cheap model's instinct is to quit early and guess a token/flag, forbid both explicitly in the prompt.

False-root/hostname guardrail (MANDATORY every delegation)

A returned uid=0/root is trusted ONLY if hostname matches the target AND the expected uid holds. Otherwise the shell died back to the Kali box, which runs as root; $(...)/backticks there substitute LOCALLY, the false-RCE trap. The fix is re-pop, not celebrate. The sub-agent MUST report hostname alongside any id output, every time, no exceptions.

Main-agent discipline

Keep driving the board while the sub-agent works. Dispatch ONE sub-agent at a time, serial; never duplicate its target in parallel. WAIT for completion before the next move. On return, persist the primitive/creds/flag to state.md/loot.md/Killchain.md before doing anything else.

Mechanism

Dispatch via the Agent tool: subagent_type general-purpose, model per the choice above, the checklist as the prompt, an explicit return/report contract written into the prompt itself. This skill's invocation IS the standing authorization to use the Agent tool mid-engagement; no separate approval needed.

Worked examples

Each uses placeholder tokens only.

(1) Catch a meterpreter as a service account Confirmed: RCE via the admin panel upload field on <target>. Egress-test the LPORT first (80/443 before 4444). Start multi/handler on the Kali VM, then deliver an inline base64 ELF payload through the panel RCE. Report back hostname + id + the session log path.

(2) ssh2john -> crack -> ssh-keygen -p strip -> SSH chain Confirmed: a private key at <path> protected by a passphrase. Run ssh2john <path> > <hash-file>, crack with the standard wordlist, then ssh-keygen -p -f <path> to strip the passphrase, then ssh -i <path> <user>@<target>. Report the cracked passphrase and the resulting shell's hostname + id.

(3) sudo screen -r <name> -> Ctrl-A c root Confirmed: sudo -l shows screen unrestricted and a root-owned session <name> is running. Run sudo screen -r <name>, then send Ctrl-A c to spawn a new window inside the root screen. Report hostname + id from inside that window before touching anything else; the guardrail applies here too.

(4) openssl-caps .so constructor root Confirmed: the openssl binary carries cap_setuid+ep. Compile a .so with a constructor that execs a shell, run it via openssl req -engine <path-to-so>, then confirm hostname + id inside the new shell before reporting root.

Once a working checklist and guardrail confirm a primitive, hand the box's actual next step to Skill(metasploit) when the run is msf-shaped (handler catch, module-driven exploit); this skill covers the delegation pattern itself, not the msf mechanics.

Client-data boundary

Worked examples use placeholders only; never put a real target IP, hostname, or credential into this skill file.