README.md

CTF Name

The CTF (Capture the Flag) Template (TODO: Name) contest takes place on (TODO: date).

Challenges are split in categories and each category contains several challenges. Each category is a folder and each challenge is a folder in its category folder. Categories are listed in the config file:

categories="crypto exploit misc reverse web sample"

The config file also defines the timestamp to use for challenge archives. You need this to keep archive files identical if created using the same contents but at different timestamps; it means identical checksums that can then be verified by participants.

Creating a Challenge

A challenge is created as a subfolder in its category folder. A sample challenge folder is sample/piece_of_pie/ with the contents below:

sample/piece_of_pie/
|-- README.md
|-- public/
|   `-- piece_of_pie*
|-- flag
|-- sol/
|   `-- exploit.py
`-- src/
    |-- .gitignore
    |-- Makefile
    `-- piece_of_pie.c

As above, the challenge folder must have:

• a README.md similar to the one in the sample/piece_of_pie folder that provides:
  • the challenge title
  • the challenge description, also showing hints and score
  • a description of the vulnerability
  • a description of the exploit/solution
  • instructions on deploying it and its required environment
• a flag file containing the flag to be captured;
• a src/ subfolder used for building the challenge. It must provide a Makefile file with a clean and public target (possibly a private target). If building source code files, provide a .gitignore file that ignores output files (such as executables). The relevant output files are to be placed in the public/ subfolder.
• a sol/ subfolder containing the solution/exploit script. It is recommended to name it exploit.py or similar.
• a public/ subfolder where build results from the src/ subfolder and additional required files are to be placed. The contents of this folder are to be packed into the challenge archive that will be be published to the participants.
• an optional private/ subfolder folder where private build results from the src/ subfolder are to be placed. The contents of this folder are to be packed into the challenge archive that will be be deployed privately in the CTF infrastructure.

Packing a Challenge

After creating the challenge, we create a .tar file that will be published to the participants. The name of the .tar file will consist of the challenge folder name and the MD5 sum of the archive, such that participants can check they have the correct file.

We use the pack-public script to create a challenge archive. We either pass it the path to the challenge subfolder (multiple arguments are allowed) or we run it with no arguments, in which case it walks through all challenge subfolders. A sample run is:

$ ls
crypto  exploit  misc  reverse  sample  web  README.md  clean-src  config  make-src  pack-private  pack-public  private-src  public-src


$ ./pack-public
Packing public for sample/piece_of_pie ...


$ ls
crypto   misc     sample  README.md  config    pack-private  piece_of_pie_43990b11e9561be8a952cadc23a9caf4.tar  public-src
exploit  reverse  web     clean-src  make-src  pack-public   private-src


$ md5sum piece_of_pie_43990b11e9561be8a952cadc23a9caf4.tar
43990b11e9561be8a952cadc23a9caf4  piece_of_pie_43990b11e9561be8a952cadc23a9caf4.tar

After running the pack-public script, we get the piece_of_pie_43990b11e9561be8a952cadc23a9caf4.tar file: the challenge folder name piece_of_pie followed by the MD5 sum of the file.

There are similar scripts to automate other actions. They are invoked similar to the pack-public script:

• the make-src script builds result files in the src/ subfolder; it invokes make in the src/ subfolder;
• the clean-src script cleans output and intermediary files the src/ subfolder; it invokes make clean in the src/ subfolder;
• the public-src script copies result files from the src/ subfolder to the public/ subfolder; it invokes make public in the src/ subfolder;
• the private-src script copies private files (for deployment use only, not available to participants) from the src/ subfolder to the private/ subfolder;
• the pack-private script creates a private challenge archive from the private/ subfolder.

Deploying a Challenge

Deploying a challenge usually requires a virtual machine where to deploy it. We will use virtual machines in the NCIT Cluster in UPB and the xinetd-based approach for deploying challenge binaries and flags. The utils/ subfolder contains helpful scripts for setting up and using the infrastructure.

For flags we use the TODO_CTF prefix followed by a random string in curly brackets, e.g. TODO_CTF{jumping_Jehoshaphat}. Unless otherwise stated, we place flag files in /home/ctf/flag on the remote system.