The password for the next level is stored in a hidden file in the inhere directory.

Since the file is hidden, simply run a ls -a to find hidden files.

bandit3@melinda:~/inhere$ ls -la
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Nov 14 2014 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Nov 14 2014 ..
-rw-r----- 1 bandit4 bandit3 33 Nov 14 2014 .hidden
bandit3@melinda:~/inhere$ cat .hidden
pIwrPrtPN36QITSp3EQaw936yaFoFgAB

The password to gain access to the next level is pIwrPrtPN36QITSp3EQaw936yaFoFgAB

The password for the next level is stored in a file called spaces in this filename located in the home directory

After you performed a simple ls command to see the files in the directory, you will notice the “spaces in this filename” file. If you directly cat the file, you will have problems.

The trick is to either use backslash before each space, or embed the entire file name as a string. For instance,

1. Adding backslash before each space
   • bandit2@melinda:~$ cat spaces\ in\ this\ filename
2. Adding double quote to embed the file name
   • bandit2@melinda:~$ cat “spaces in this filename”

Either way works. 

bandit2@melinda:~$ ls
spaces in this filename
bandit2@melinda:~$ cat "spaces in this filename"
UmHadQclWmgdLOKQ3YNgjWxGoRMb5luK
bandit2@melinda:~$ cat spaces\ in\ this\ filename
UmHadQclWmgdLOKQ3YNgjWxGoRMb5luK
bandit2@melinda:~$

The password to gain access to level 3 is UmHadQclWmgdLOKQ3YNgjWxGoRMb5luK

The password for the next level is stored in a file called – located in the home directory

As the hint has suggested, you need to check the content in the file named – (a dash symbol) to obtain the password to access level 2.

However, if you just simply run the cat command to view print the content in the file named – (a dash symbol), your terminal is just going to get stuck,

When cat sees – (a dash symbol) as a filename, it treats it as a synonym for stdin. To avoid getting treated as a stdin and have your terminal getting nowhere, you need to provide the full path of the file instead of simply cat the file name.

bandit1@melinda:~$ cat ./-
 CV1DtqXWVFXTvM2F0k09SHz0YwRINYA9

The password to gain access to level 2 is CV1DtqXWVFXTvM2F0k09SHz0YwRINYA9

Level goal: The password for the next level is stored in a file called readme located in the home directory. Use this password to log into bandit1 using SSH. Whenever you find a password for a level, use SSH to log into that level and continue the game.

This level is a simple giveaway too. Simply run ls to view the current directory as instructed by the level’s hint, and then cat the readme file to view its content.

bandit0@melinda:~$ ls
readme
bandit0@melinda:~$ cat readme
boJ9jbbUNNfktd78OOpsqOltutMc3MY1

The password to level 1 environment is boJ9jbbUNNfktd78OOpsqOltutMc3MY1

Definitely, level 0 is a giveaway to get you started with the actual challenges.

Level 0 goal: The goal of this level is for you to log into the game using SSH. The host to which you need to connect is bandit.labs.overthewire.org. The username is bandit0 and the password is bandit0. Once logged in, go to the Level 1 page to find out how to beat Level 1.

Firstly, you should know how to connect to the bandit.labs.overthewire.org server via secure shell (SSH) protocol. If you are using Kali Linux, you can directly run an SSH command to connect to the server. However, if you are using Windows, there is no SSH client installed by default.

While there are many very good SSH clients in the market that were designed for Windows environment usages, personally, I would prefer PuTTY as it is easy to setup and pretty lightweight.

Once you are done, press “Open” and you should be able to gain access to the bandit0 box.