Bandit Level 5: The Goldilocks File Hunt (Just Right!)

Introduction: When “Just Find It” Isn’t Enough

You’ve successfully navigated directories, unmasked hidden files, and even differentiated between plain text and binary goo. You’re becoming quite the file system connoisseur! But Bandit Level 5 ups the ante. It’s no longer about just finding a file; it’s about finding the right file, based on a very specific shopping list of properties.

The level description for Bandit Level 5 reads:

The password for the next level is stored in a file somewhere in the inhere directory and has the following properties:

• human-readable
• 1033 bytes in size
• not executable

“Human-readable” we know. “1033 bytes”? That’s a very precise size. “Not executable”? Ah, file permissions are joining the party! This is a job for the Swiss Army knife of Linux commands: find.

Level 5: The find Command - Your Digital Bloodhound

You’ve logged in as bandit5 with the password from Level 4. A quick ls will show you our familiar entry point:

ls

Output:

inhere

Naturally, we’ll cd into that inhere directory:

cd inhere

Now, if you try an ls or even ls -a, you’ll likely see a massive number of files and directories. Manually checking each one for human-readability, size, and executability would be a tedious, soul-crushing task. This is exactly what the find command was made for.

The find Command: Filtering Like a Pro

The find command is incredibly powerful for locating files and directories based on various criteria. You tell it where to look and what properties the files should have.

Here’s the breakdown of the options we’ll use for Bandit Level 5:

• .: This tells find to start searching in the current directory (and its subdirectories).
• -type f: We’re looking for a file, not a directory. (f for file).
• -size 1033c: We want a file exactly 1033 bytes in size. The c stands for bytes.
• -readable: This filters for files that are human-readable (like plain text). This is often equivalent to grepping for ASCII text from file output, but find has a built-in option!
• !-executable: This is a bit tricky. The ! negates the next condition. So, ! -executable means “NOT executable.” This is important because the password file should not be a program.

Putting it all together, the command looks like this:

find . -type f -size 1033c -readable ! -executable

Type this into your terminal and press Enter. If you’ve got it right, find will spit out the name of the file that matches all these criteria!

It might look something like:

./maybehereisyourpasswordfile

Or just f77777777777777777777777 or similar. The actual name doesn’t matter as long as it’s the only one.

The Grand Reveal: catting the Perfect File

Once find has done its detective work and presented you with the path to the perfect file, you know what to do! Use cat to display its contents:

cat ./maybehereisyourpasswordfile # (Use the actual filename find gave you!)

And there it is! The password for bandit6. Copy that precious string!

Moving Onward:

Got that password? Awesome!

exit

Then, you know the drill – connect to the next level:

ssh [email protected] -p 2220

Enter your freshly found password, and just like that, you’re on bandit6. You’re mastering the art of targeted file discovery!

Conclusion: find - The Power to Pinpoint

You’ve successfully conquered Bandit Level 5, adding a seriously powerful tool to your Linux command-line arsenal:

• The versatile and incredibly useful find command, allowing you to locate files based on multiple criteria (type, size, readability, executability, and much more!).
• A deeper understanding of file properties and permissions.

The find command is invaluable for system administration, scripting, and of course, wargames. Mastering it will save you countless hours of manual searching.

Next time, we’ll dive into Bandit Level 6, where the challenges continue to evolve. Keep that find command handy!

SPOILER ALERT: Short Answer for Bandit Level 5

1. Log in as bandit5.
2. Change directory: cd inhere
3. Use the find command with the specified criteria:
   find . -type f -size 1033c -readable ! -executable

4. cat the filename that find outputs (e.g., cat ./the_found_filename).
5. The output is the password for bandit6.

Continue to Bandit Level 6!