Nineveh

hi guys, any hints regarding prv.esc. I am in as the only ‘intented’ user. I would just hate it if this comes down to a kernel exploit , tell me this can be done with out any dirtycows etc…, been up and down this box for awhile now, nothing really sticks out…any hints on this box .
I see files stacking up in a directory, not sure I can exploit this…