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n00bz Level 4

Hacking for n00bz – Level 4

For a bounty of $40, level 4 shows a very cute cookie monster image with the text “HTTP means Hypertext Transfer Protocol”.

When hovering your mouse over the image, it gives a pop-up text saying “stop poking me”. Now, that is quite a hint. The pop-up message is trying to tell us that there is nothing with the image, to obtain the flag, we should focus on HTTP’s element itself.

n00bz Level 4

So, who is in the image? Cookie monster? Let’s look at the list of cookies on the page… bingo! There is a suspicious looking cookie, called fusrodah.

People who have played the game “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” would know what it is. “Fus Ro Dah” is one of the shouts (it’s like the spells/magic in other games) that can be performed in the game, it basically sends out a shockwave to its target to push them back or make them fall. It have since become an internet meme.

n00bz Level 4

At this point, logically speaking, we have to do some trial and error to see what does “vasbfrp_syntvf_jrybirpbbxvrf” means. However, since the string of text only contains alphabets, it is probably not encoded using an advanced method.

After performing a very simple ROT13 decryption using the ROT13 tool, there we go “infosec_flagis_welovecookies”.

Back to write-up list for InfoSec Institute CTF #1: Hacking for n00bz

n00bz Level 3

Hacking for n00bz – Level 3

In level 3, we see a QR code with a progress bar for a bounty of $30.

n00bz Level 3

At first thought, the hint to where the flag could be hidden would be inside the QR code. However, there is a progress bar being placed right below the QR code. However, after checking the code behind the progress bar, it seems to be nothing but a distraction to mislead people.

To check whether anything is being hidden behind the QR code, you can use your phone (there is many apps in Google Play and Apple App Store that allows you to scan for QR code), or if your prefer using your web browser, you can try using this QR code decoder instead. Personally, I prefer to do it using my browser since I don’t like to switch between my computer and my phone to pass messages.

Viola! The QR code decoder has returned the following raw text, which is essentially a string written in Morse code.

.. -. ..-. --- ... . -.-. ..-. .-.. .- --. .. ... -- --- .-. ... .. -. --.

Using a Morse code translator, we are able to translate the string of text into the flag for level 3 – “INFOSECFLAGISMORSING”.

Back to write-up list for InfoSec Institute CTF #1: Hacking for n00bz

n00bz Level 2

Hacking for n00bz – Level 2

In level 2, we see a broken image with an accompany text,

It seems like the image is broken..Can you check the file?

n00bz Level 2

By opening the image in a new tab, it displays the image in this link.

n00bz Level 2

Since it don’t seem like a valid image, let’s look around to see if there is other information hidden in the page source (again) or in the scripts. Apparently, there is a hidden script, “aW5mb3NlY19mbGFnaXNfd2VhcmVqdXN0c3RhcnRpbmc=”, you can easily identify it using Firebug, a very popular developer plugin in the Firefox web browser.

n00bz Level 2

Well, since there is a “=” symbol appended to the end of the string, based on experience, it is most likely a base64 encoded string. You can use any decoder tool to perform base64 decoding to identify the content, personally, I like to use Hackbar, also a plugin in the Firefox web browser.

After performing base64 decoding, you will get the flag, “infosec_flagis_wearejuststarting”.

Back to write-up list for InfoSec Institute CTF #1: Hacking for n00bz

n00bz Level 1

Hacking for n00bz – Level 1

I mentioned about the Infosec Institute CTF challenges in one of my previous post, let’s get started with a bit of write up.

When first entered level 1, it shows a picture of Yoda with the following text,

May the source be with you!

n00bz Level 1

Fair enough, the hint was pretty obvious, asking us to view the page source.

n00bz Level 1

There, we have it in the very first line, the flag is “infosec_flagis_welcome”.

Back to write-up list for InfoSec Institute CTF #1: Hacking for n00bz

InfoSec Institute: Capture the Flag (CTF)

Following up from my previous post regarding the InfoSec Institute: Capture the Flag (CTF), I hope the resources are helpful to you. There are many more resources out there, thanks to the very supportive community of information security professionals and enthusiasts who enjoy sharing their knowledge to help one another.

Today, I would like to introduce the CTF challenges created by Infosec Institute – they provides entry-level CTF challenges for beginners to learn and play. To make things even better, they also giveaway some small token of monetary appreciation to participants who are able to complete all the challenges AND do a write up on the solutions or helpful instructions to help other participants whom are stuck.

InfoSec Institute: Capture the Flag Challenges
InfoSec Institute: Capture the Flag Challenges

I find that this is a very smart way of getting people to contribute to the information security community, to get them started. A write up can be simple, just provide some steps to help people get through and learn something along the process. In fact, you learn more when you start writing (it keeps you thinking!).

In case you missed the link above, you can try out the challenges here: http://ctf.infosecinstitute.com/