peass-ng/PEASS-ng · error · Exception

Global Variables '{', '.join(not_defined_global_vars)}' in m

Error message

Global Variables '{', '.join(not_defined_global_vars)}' in module {path} are not defined inside the 'Generated Global Variables' metadata

What it means

The builder statically scans the module's shell code for $VARIABLE references and requires every non-builtin variable to be declared either in '# Global Variables:', '# Generated Global Variables:', the linux_global_vars allowlist, the PSTORAGE_ namespace, or the base variables module. Undeclared variables would be empty at runtime, silently producing wrong results, so the builder refuses to compile the module.

Source

Thrown at linPEAS/builder/src/linpeasModule.py:227

            "IDENTITY_HEADER",
            "KUBERNETES_SERVICE_PORT_HTTPS",
            "KUBERNETES_SERVICE_HOST"
        ]
        main_base = None
        
        # Base global variables don't need to be defined
        if self.id != "BS_variables_base":
            main_base = LinpeasModule(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "linpeas_parts", "linpeas_base", "0_variables_base.sh"))
        
        not_defined_global_vars = []
        for var in self.extract_variables(self.sh_code):
            if len(var) > 2 and not var in linux_global_vars and var not in self.global_variables and var not in self.generated_global_variables:
                if not var.startswith("PSTORAGE_"):
                    if not main_base or var not in main_base.generated_global_variables:
                        not_defined_global_vars.append("$"+var)
        
        if not_defined_global_vars:
            raise Exception(f"Global Variables '{', '.join(not_defined_global_vars)}' in module {path} are not defined inside the 'Generated Global Variables' metadata")
            

    def __eq__(self, other):
        # Check if other object is an instance of LinpeasModule
        if isinstance(other, LinpeasModule):
            return self.id == other.id
        return NotImplemented  # Return NotImplemented for unsupported comparisons

    def extract_function_names(self):
        # This regular expression pattern matches function definitions in sh code
        pattern = r'\b(\w+)\s*\(\s*\)\s*{'
        return re.findall(pattern, self.sh_code)

    def extract_variables(self, sh_code):
        # This regex pattern matches variables in the form $VAR_NAME or ${VAR_NAME}
        pattern = r'\$({?([a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*)}?)'
        matches = re.findall(pattern, sh_code)
        # Extract the variable name from each match

View on GitHub (pinned to 53fb989abc)

Solutions

1. Add the variable to the module's '# Generated Global Variables:' metadata and generate/emit it in the code
2. Or add it to '# Global Variables:' if it comes from another module/base part
3. Fix the typo if the variable name in code does not match the declared one
4. Move shared variables into linpeas_parts/linpeas_base/0_variables_base.sh

Example fix

# before
echo "Found: $FOUND binaries"
# after
# (metadata)
# Generated Global Variables: FOUND
# (code)
FOUND=$(echo "$FOUND" | sed 's/ /,/g')
echo "Found: $FOUND binaries"

import re
code = open(module_path).read()
used_vars = {v for v in re.findall(r'\$(\w+)', code) if len(v) > 2}
declared = set(parse_metadata("Global Variables")) | set(parse_metadata("Generated Global Variables"))
missing = {v for v in used_vars if v not in declared and not v.startswith("PSTORAGE_")}
assert not missing, f"Undeclared: {missing}"

try:
    LinpeasModule(path)
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Module {path} failed validation: {e}")
    # add missing vars to metadata and retry

When it happens

Trigger: LinpeasModule.__init__ during build when module code references e.g. '$MY_VAR' with len>2, not in linux_global_vars, not in either metadata variable list, not prefixed PSTORAGE_, and not defined in 0_variables_base.sh.

Common situations: Adding new shell code that uses a variable without updating the '# Generated Global Variables:' header; typo-ing a variable name so it no longer matches the declared one; relying on a variable that only exists in another module instead of the base file.

Related errors

• Function '{func}' in module {path} is imported from itself
• Variable '{var}' in module {path} is imported from itself
• Item should be an instance of LinpeasModule
• Something falied reading PEASS script from #{url_peass}
• Value cannot be null. Parameter name: path

AI-assisted analysis of peass-ng/PEASS-ng@53fb989abc (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5606fba84d60fab3. Report an issue: GitHub.