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Mission 0x42

🔎 Solution​

After logging in as sarah, the next objective referenced a hidden password somewhere in the current directory:

sarah@venus:~$ cat mission.txt  
################
# MISSION 0x42 #
################

## EN ##
The password of mercy is hidden in this directory.

Listing the directory contents showed something unusual-among the typical files, there was a file literally named ..., easy to miss if not paying attention:

sarah@venus:~$ ls -la
total 36
drwxr-x--- 2 root  sarah 4096 Apr  5  2024 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root  root  4096 Apr  5  2024 ..
-rw-r----- 1 root  sarah   16 Apr  5  2024 ...
-rw-r--r-- 1 sarah sarah  220 Apr 23  2023 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 sarah sarah 3526 Apr 23  2023 .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 sarah sarah  807 Apr 23  2023 .profile
-rw-r----- 1 root  sarah   31 Apr  5  2024 flagz.txt
-rw-r----- 1 root  sarah  175 Apr  5  2024 mission.txt

Opening this odd-looking file revealed the password:

sarah@venus:~$ cat ...
ym5yyXZ163uIS8L

Using it allowed SSH access to the next account:

ssh mercy@venus.hackmyvm.eu -p 5000

Once inside, the flag was stored as usual:

mercy@venus:~$ cat flagz.txt 
8===pBpnZCBSELaY0xQJ8YAY===D~~

🚩Flag​

8===pBpnZCBSELaY0xQJ8YAY===D~~