Level 17 → 18

Level Goal

There are 2 files in the homedirectory: passwords.old and passwords.new. The password for the next level is in passwords.new and is the only line that has been changed between passwords.old and passwords.new

NOTE: if you have solved this level and see ‘Byebye!’ when trying to log into bandit18, this is related to the next level, bandit19

Write-Up

1. List the content of the directory:

ls

This showed two files: passwords.new and passwords.old

1. Use diff to compare the two files:

diff passwords.old passwords.new

This shows which line was changed between the two files.

1. The output showed the old and new passwords, with the new password being the one for the next level:

x2gLTTjFwMOhQ8oWNbMN362QKxfRqGlO

1. Use the new password to access the next level:

ssh [e-mail] -p 2220

Lessons Learned

• The diff command is effective for identifying changes between Files

• File comparison is more reliable than manual inspection for finding differences

-- Othmane