Capture the Flag (CTF) walkthrough: My File Server 1

In this article, we will solve a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge which was posted on VulnHub.

As you may know from previous articles, Vulnhub.com is a platform which provides users with vulnerable applications/machines to gain practical hands-on experience in the field of information security. You can check my previous articles for more CTF challenges. I have also provided a downloadable URL for this CTF; you can download the virtual machine (VM) and run it on VirtualBox.

The torrent downloadable URL is also available for this VM. It has been added in the reference section of this article.

There was no further clue or information provided by the author on VulnHub, but all of the CTFs have the common goal of gaining root privileges on the target machine. There are two prerequisites to attempt this challenge: having some knowledge of Linux commands and the ability to run some basic penetration testing tools.

For those who are not aware of the site, VulnHub is a well-known website for security researchers. It aims to provide users with a way to learn and practice their hacking skills through a series of challenges in a safe and legal environment. You can download vulnerable VMs from this website and try to exploit them. I highly suggest attempting them, as it is a good way to sharpen your skills and also learn new techniques in a safe environment.

Please note: For all of these machines, I have used Oracle VirtualBox to run the downloaded VMs. I am using Kali Linux as an attacker machine for solving this CTF. The techniques used are solely for educational purposes, and I am not responsible if the listed techniques are used against any other targets.

The steps

1. Find the IP address of the victim machine with the netdiscover
2. Scan (Read more...)