XK0-006 Security Practice Question
An administrator notices that a non-root user 'alice' can run commands as root without being in the sudoers file. Which group membership could allow this?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus solely on sudo and the 'sudo' group, overlooking the alternative privilege escalation path through the 'wheel' group and the 'su' command, which is a common misconfiguration in Linux security audits.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
wheel
On many Linux distributions, membership in the 'wheel' group is a standard mechanism that allows non-root users to execute commands with root privileges via the 'su' command, even if they are not listed in the sudoers file. The 'wheel' group is traditionally used to control access to the 'su' utility, and by default, PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) configuration often permits members of the 'wheel' group to switch to the root user without additional sudo configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
admin
Why it's wrong here
admin group is rarely used for sudo; wheel is more common.
- ✓
wheel
Why this is correct
Members of wheel group often have sudo privileges.
- ✗
root
Why it's wrong here
Being in root group does not grant sudo by default.
- ✗
sudo
Why it's wrong here
Some distributions use a 'sudo' group, but wheel is standard in many.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Linux Fundamentals and History
Key term
PAM
Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a security framework that controls, monitors, and audits access to critical systems and accounts with elevated permissions.
Key term
Utility
Utility, in IT service management, is the measure of a service's functionality that ensures it is fit for purpose by meeting the specific needs of the customer.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This XK0-006 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the XK0-006 exam.