Level 9 → 10

Level Goal

The password for the next level is stored in the file data.txt in one of the few human-readable strings, preceded by several = characters.

Write-Up

1. List the content of the current directory:

ls

This confirms the presence of the data.txt file.

1. Display the content of the data.txt file:

cat data.txt

1. To find human-readable strings proceeded by = characters, the string command was used in combination with grep:

strings data.txt | grep "="

• strings data.txt: Extracts printable strings from the file

• |: Pipes the output to the next command

• grep "=": Searches for lines containing '=' characters

The password retrieved: FGUW5ilLVJrxX9kMYMmlN4MgbpfMiqey

1. Access the next level:

ssh [e-mail] -p 2220

Enter the password when prompted.

Lessons Learned

• The strings command is crucial for extracting readable text from binary files

• Grep is versatile for finding patterns, but exact patterns may need adjustment

• Visual inspection of output can be necessary when automated filtering is imprecise

• Binary files often contain hidden, readable information

-- Othmane