Kartibok's CTF Journey
A list of my write-ups as well as my methods and ways of completing challenges
Project maintained by Kartibok Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by mattgraham
pokemon CTF
nmap
So lets start with nmap and see what we get:
~/CTF/tryhackme/pokemon$ nmap -A -sC -sV 10.10.10.88
Starting Nmap 7.80 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2020-08-11 20:54 BST
Nmap scan report for 10.10.10.88
Host is up (0.020s latency).
Not shown: 998 closed ports
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
22/tcp open ssh OpenSSH 7.2p2 Ubuntu 4ubuntu2.8 (Ubuntu Linux; protocol 2.0)
| ssh-hostkey:
| 2048 58:14:75:69:1e:a9:59:5f:b2:3a:69:1c:6c:78:5c:27 (RSA)
| 256 23:f5:fb:e7:57:c2:a5:3e:c2:26:29:0e:74:db:37:c2 (ECDSA)
|_ 256 f1:9b:b5:8a:b9:29:aa:b6:aa:a2:52:4a:6e:65:95:c5 (ED25519)
80/tcp open http Apache httpd 2.4.18 ((Ubuntu))
|_http-server-header: Apache/2.4.18 (Ubuntu)
|_http-title: Can You Find Them All?
Service Info: OS: Linux; CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel
Looks like we only have the two ports one for ssh and the other for http. What about folder structures - gobuster next.
gobuster
~/CTF/tryhackme/pokemon$ gobuster dir -u thm.thm -w /usr/share/wordlists/dirbuster/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt
===============================================================
Gobuster v3.0.1
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@_FireFart_)
===============================================================
[+] Url: http://thm.thm
[+] Threads: 10
[+] Wordlist: /usr/share/wordlists/dirbuster/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt
[+] Status codes: 200,204,301,302,307,401,403
[+] User Agent: gobuster/3.0.1
[+] Timeout: 10s
===============================================================
2020/08/12 06:19:38 Starting gobuster
===============================================================
/server-status (Status: 403)
===============================================================
2020/08/12 06:27:43 Finished
===============================================================
Not much here that is visible, lets move on.
website enumeration
If we view source, we find two areas of interest: a script and a possible username and password.
<script type="text/javascript">
const randomPokemon = [
'Bulbasaur', 'Charmander', 'Squirtle',
'Snorlax',
'Zapdos',
'Mew',
'Charizard',
'Grimer',
'Metapod',
'Magikarp'
];
const original = randomPokemon.sort((pokemonName) => {
const [aLast] = pokemonName.split(', ');
});
console.log(original);
</script>
My scripting is not so hot, other than it showing me a list of possible pokemon. That might come in handy later. From nmap we know that there is an ssh port. So lets try that with the possible username and password that we may have found.
<---oops--->:<----oops---->
<!--(Check console for extra surprise!)-->
ssh
So using the password and username we get access to the server. Let’s have a look around.
@root:~$ ls
Desktop Documents Downloads examples.desktop Music Pictures Public Templates Videos
@root:~$ cd Desktop
@root:~/Desktop$ ls
P0kEmOn.zip
@root:~/Desktop$ unzip P0kEmOn.zip
Archive: P0kEmOn.zip
creating: P0kEmOn/
inflating: P0kEmOn/grass-type.txt
@root:~/Desktop$ cd P0kEmOn/
@root:~/Desktop/P0kEmOn$ ls
grass-type.txt
@root:~/Desktop/P0kEmOn$ cat grass-type.txt
50 6f ---oops--- 72 7d
Starting with Desktop we find a zip file. Unzip that and we get a folder with a text file. This gives us what appears to be a hex code. Using the GCHQ Cyberchef we find it is the first flag. Using the Magic operation within Cyberchef, it confirms that it is more likely to be “From Hex” or “From Hexdump.”
---oops---
Lets check the rest of the folders in his home drive.
@root:~$ ls -lAh *
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 8.8K Jun 22 19:36 examples.desktop
Desktop:
total 8.0K
drwxrwxr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 22:37 P0kEmOn
-rw-rw-r-- 1 --- --- 383 Jun 22 22:40 P0kEmOn.zip
Documents:
total 0
Downloads:
total 0
Music:
total 0
Pictures:
total 0
Public:
total 0
Templates:
total 0
Videos:
total 4.0K
drwxrwxr-x 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 23:10 Gotta
Looks like we have something in his Video folder. More files!!
@root:~$ cd Videos/Gotta/
@root:~/Videos/Gotta$ ls
Catch
@root:~/Videos/Gotta$ cd Catch/
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch$ ls
Them
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch$ cd Them/
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch/Them$ ls
ALL!
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch/Them$ cd ALL\!/
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch/Them/ALL!$ ls
Could_this_be_what_Im_looking_for?.cplusplus
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch/Them/ALL!$ file Could_this_be_what_Im_looking_for\?.cplusplus
Could_this_be_what_Im_looking_for?.cplusplus: C source, ASCII text
@root:~/Videos/Gotta/Catch/Them/ALL!$ cat Could_this_be_what_Im_looking_for\?.cplusplus
Right the folder structure follows the quote from the game and after some research, the file style is C++.
# include <iostream>
int main() {
std::cout << "--- : ---"
return 0;
}
The format however is similar to the pokemon username and password we had from the view source. Lets put this to one side for the moment.
Lets continue the enumeration of the /home folder.
@root:/home$ ls -lAh *
-rwx------ 1 --- root 8 Jun 22 23:21 roots-pokemon.txt
ls: cannot open directory '---': Permission denied
------:
total 112K
-rw------- 1 --- --- 0 Aug 11 11:17 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 257 Aug 11 11:09 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:26 .bashrc
drwx------ 15 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:26 .cache
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 20:00 .compiz
drwx------ 15 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:58 .config
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 22:50 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x 3 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:27 Desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 25 Jun 22 22:56 .dmrc
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 8.8K Jun 22 19:36 examples.desktop
drwx------ 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 .gconf
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:15 .gnupg
-rw------- 1 --- --- 3.4K Aug 12 01:15 .ICEauthority
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 .local
drwx------ 5 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:52 .mozilla
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Music
drwxrwxr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Aug 11 11:04 .nano
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Pictures
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 655 Jun 22 19:36 .profile
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Public
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 0 Jun 22 19:47 .sudo_as_admin_successful
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 23:10 Videos
-rw------- 1 --- --- 49 Aug 12 01:15 .Xauthority
-rw------- 1 --- --- 82 Aug 12 01:15 .xsession-errors
-rw------- 1 --- --- 1.3K Aug 11 13:21 .xsession-errors.old
We now see another home folder, —, which we have no access, though the username is the same as the coded C++ piece, followed by a new text document belonging to root - roots-pokemon.txt.
Before we continue with —, lets check out the www folders as gobuster never picked up anything exciting.
@root:/home$ cd /var/www/html/
@root:/var/www/html$ ls
index.html water-type.txt
@root:/var/www/html$ cat water-type.txt
------{----}
So another flag, again encrpyed.
This time it looks like a Caesar Cypher. I tried ROT13 using the same Cyberchef tool from GCHQ and was successful in decoding the flag. This was found by moving ROT 13 forward one :)
privalage escalation
Let’s see what we can do with — , either go up or sideways to view — home drive.
@root:/home$ sudo -l
[sudo] password for ---:
Sorry, user --- may not run sudo on root.
Looks like no Sudo for —. What about SUID files:
@root:/home$ find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null
/bin/umount
/bin/ping6
/bin/ping
/bin/su
/bin/fusermount
/bin/mount
/usr/bin/sudo
/usr/bin/passwd
/usr/bin/chsh
/usr/bin/gpasswd
/usr/bin/chfn
/usr/bin/newgrp
/usr/bin/pkexec
/usr/lib/eject/dmcrypt-get-device
/usr/lib/xorg/Xorg.wrap
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/oxide-qt/chrome-sandbox
/usr/lib/dbus-1.0/dbus-daemon-launch-helper
/usr/lib/openssh/ssh-keysign
/usr/lib/snapd/snap-confine
/usr/lib/policykit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1
/usr/sbin/pppd
Nothing jumps out for me at the moment, so lets try the possible password for — we found in the C++ file.
@root:/home$ su ash
Password:
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo <command>".
See "man sudo_root" for details.
bash: /home/ash/.bashrc: Permission denied
@root:/home$ id
uid=1001(---) gid=1001(---) groups=1001(---),27(sudo)
@root:/home$
OK So we now have access to — area and we can see he has sudo privilages. Lets look around first. Looks like we can’t use cd as a root command so lets ls everything as root.
@root:/home$ sudo ls -lAh *
-rwx------ 1 --- root 8 Jun 22 23:21 roots-pokemon.txt
---:
total 16K
drwx------ 3 root root 4.0K Jun 24 14:14 .cache
drwx------ 5 root root 4.0K Jun 24 14:14 .config
drwx------ 3 root root 4.0K Jun 24 14:13 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Jun 24 14:14 .local
---:
total 112K
-rw------- 1 --- --- 0 Aug 11 11:17 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 257 Aug 11 11:09 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:26 .bashrc
drwx------ 15 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:26 .cache
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 20:00 .compiz
drwx------ 15 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:58 .config
drwx------ 3 root root 4.0K Jun 22 22:50 .dbus
drwxr-xr-x 3 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:27 Desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 25 Jun 22 22:56 .dmrc
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Documents
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Downloads
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 8.8K Jun 22 19:36 examples.desktop
drwx------ 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 .gconf
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Aug 12 01:15 .gnupg
-rw------- 1 --- --- 3.4K Aug 12 01:15 .ICEauthority
drwx------ 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 .local
drwx------ 5 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:52 .mozilla
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Music
drwxrwxr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Aug 11 11:04 .nano
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Pictures
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 655 Jun 22 19:36 .profile
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Public
-rw-r--r-- 1 --- --- 0 Jun 22 19:47 .sudo_as_admin_successful
drwxr-xr-x 2 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 19:46 Templates
drwxr-xr-x 3 --- --- 4.0K Jun 22 23:10 Videos
-rw------- 1 --- --- 49 Aug 12 01:15 .Xauthority
-rw------- 1 --- --- 82 Aug 12 01:15 .xsession-errors
-rw------- 1 --- --- 1.3K Aug 11 13:21 .xsession-errors.old
Nothing showing within — home drive so lets read the roots-pokemon.txt
@root:/home$ sudo cat roots-pokemon.txt
-----
This looks like it could be the answer to root’s favorite pokemon!!
So now we have his favorite, the grass and water pokemon, so we just need to find the last one - the fire pokemon.
I couldn’t find anything that jumped out so I tried a search with fire as root and was a txt file. Lucky first time!
@root:/$ sudo find / -name fire*.txt 2>/dev/null
----------
@root:/$ cat /etc/why_am_i_here\?/fire-type.txt
-------------------------------
@root:/$ echo ------------------ | base64 --decode
---{---}base64: invalid input
@root:/$
So looking at this as seeing the == added spaces I used base64 to decode, giving us the last pokemon.
Learning points I gainsed from this? Read everything and document as you go!!
I thoroughy enjoyed this CTF and look forward to any others that are brought out by GhostlyPy
Regards
K
