Mmcp.market

ctf-misc skill

by ljagiello·ljagiello/ctf-skills·3.4k stars·MIT

Provides miscellaneous CTF challenge techniques for problems that do not cleanly fit the main categories. Use for encoding puzzles, pyjails, bash jails, RF/SDR, DNS oddities, unicode tricks, esoteric languages, QR or audio puzzles, constraint solving, game theory, unusual sandbox escapes, and hybrid logic puzzles. Prefer a more specific skill first when the challenge is mainly web, pwn, reverse, forensics, malware, OSINT, or crypto. Treat this as the fallback skill for genuine cross-category or edge-case challenges, not the default starting point.

F30/100content scan

Is the ctf-misc skill safe?

A critical finding: do not install it without reading the flagged line. We read 13 files in the folder on 2026-09-28.

  • highSKILL.md:299

    Reads credential files (SSH keys, cloud or package-manager tokens) that a skill has no normal reason to touch.

    cat /etc/passwd  # Check 5th colon-separated field
  • highlinux-privesc.md:137

    Reads credential files (SSH keys, cloud or package-manager tokens) that a skill has no normal reason to touch.

    SELECT pg_read_file('/etc/passwd');
  • mediumlinux-privesc.md:282

    Edits shell startup files, cron or launch agents, so something runs again after the skill is done.

    systemctl enable --now /home/loluser/pwn.service

Install the ctf-misc skill

A skill is a folder. Copy it into your agent's skills folder and the agent loads it when the task matches its description. Read the findings above first.

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ljagiello/ctf-skills.git /tmp/ctf-skills
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/ctf-skills/ctf-misc ~/.claude/skills/ctf-misc
available in every project

In the Claude apps, zip the folder and upload it from the Skills settings. The folder on GitHub

The instructions your agent would load

SKILL.md as published, without the frontmatter. Read it on GitHub

CTF Miscellaneous

Quick reference for miscellaneous CTF challenges. Each technique has a one-liner here; see supporting files for full details.

Prerequisites

Python packages (all platforms):

pip install "pwntools==4.15.0" "segno==1.6.2" z3-solver Pillow numpy requests dnslib

Linux (apt):

apt install libzbar0 qrencode ffmpeg

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install ffmpeg qrencode

Manual install:

  • SageMath — Linux: apt install sagemath, macOS: brew install --cask sage

Additional Resources

  • pyjails.md - Python jail/sandbox escape techniques, quine context detection, restricted character repunit decomposition, func_globals module chain traversal, restricted charset number generation, class attribute persistence, f-string config injection via stored eval
  • bashjails.md - Bash jail/restricted shell escape techniques, HISTFILE file read trick, bash -v verbose mode, ctypes.sh direct C library calls
  • encodings.md - Encodings, QR codes, esolangs, UTF-16 tricks, BCD encoding, multi-layer auto-decoding, indexed directory QR reassembly, multi-stage URL encoding chains
  • encodings-advanced.md - Verilog/HDL, Gray code cyclic encoding, RTF custom tag extraction, SMS PDU decoding, multi-encoding sequential solvers, UTF-9, pixel binary encoding, hexadecimal Sudoku + QR assembly, TOPKEK, MaxiCode
  • rf-sdr.md - RF/SDR/IQ signal processing (QAM-16, carrier recovery, timing sync)
  • dns.md - DNS exploitation (ECS spoofing, NSEC walking, IXFR, rebinding, tunneling)
  • games-and-vms.md - WASM patching, Roblox place file reversing, PyInstaller, marshal analysis, Python env RCE, Z3 (including boolean logic gate network SAT solving), K8s RBAC, floating-point precision exploitation, custom assembly language sandbox escape via Python MRO chain
  • games-and-vms-2.md - Cookie checkpoint game brute-forcing, Flask cookie game state leakage, WebSocket game manipulation, server time-only validation bypass, De Bruijn sequence, Brainfuck instrumentation, WASM linear memory manipulation
  • games-and-vms-3.md - memfd_create packed binaries, multi-phase crypto games with HMAC commitment-reveal and GF(256) Nim, emulator ROM-switching state preservation, Python marshal code injection, Benford's Law bypass, parallel connection oracle relay, nonogram solver pipelines, 100 prisoners problem, C code jail escape via emoji identifiers, BuildKit daemon build secret exploitation, Docker container escape, Levenshtein distance oracle attack, taint analysis bypass via type coercion, shredded document pixel-edge reassembly
  • games-and-vms-4.md - Part 4 (2018-era): XSLT as Turing-complete VM, JavaScript MAXSAFEINTEGER successor equality, binary search oracle in comparison-only DSL, blind SQLi via script-engine timeout error, OEIS sequence lookup automation, QR code reassembly from format-string constraints, matrix exponentiation for Fibonacci recurrence, Tribonacci for frog-jump counting, Selenium + Tesseract dynamic CAPTCHA, Brainfuck→Piet multi-layer polyglot, bytebeat synth code recognition
  • linux-privesc.md - Sudo wildcard parameter injection (fnmatch), crafted pcap for sudoers.d, monit confcheck process injection, Apache -d override, backup cronjob SUID, PostgreSQL COPY TO PROGRAM RCE, PostgreSQL backup credential extraction, NFS share exploitation, SSH Unix socket tunneling, PaperCut Print Deploy privesc, Squid proxy pivoting, Zabbix admin password reset via MySQL, WinSSHTerm credential decryption
  • ctfd-navigation.md - CTFd platform API navigation without browser: detection, token auth, challenge listing, file download, flag submission, scoreboard, hints, notifications, Python client class

When to Pivot

  • If the puzzle is actually centered on cryptography or number theory, switch to /ctf-crypto.
  • If the challenge is a real binary exploit instead of a jail, toy VM, or encoding problem, switch to /ctf-pwn or /ctf-reverse.
  • If the input is mostly files, images, audio, or packet captures that need recovery work first, switch to /ctf-forensics.
  • For ML/AI techniques (model attacks, adversarial examples, LLM jailbreaking), see /ctf-ai-ml.
  • If the NodeJS sandbox uses vm2 (npm ls vm2), check for CVE-2023-37466 via Promise[@@species] with nesting:true — the exception handler escapes the context; see ctf-web/js-sandbox for the full exploit chain. In misc challenges with bundled JS, always run npm ls vm2 to detect vulnerable vm2 before trying other escapes.

Quick Start Commands

# File identification
file mystery_file
xxd mystery_file | head -5
python3 -c "import magic; print(magic.from_file('mystery_file'))"

# Encoding detection
python3 -c "import base64; print(base64.b64decode('<data>'))"
echo '<data>' | base64 -d
echo '<hex>' | xxd -r -p

# QR code
zbarimg qr.png
python3 -c "from pyzbar.pyzbar import decode; from PIL import Image; print(decode(Image.open('qr.png')))"

# Z3 constraint solving
python3 -c "from z3 import *; x=BitVec('x',32); s=Solver(); s.add(x^0xdead==0xbeef); s.check(); print(s.model())"

# Python jail test
python3 -c "__import__('os').system('id')"

General Tips

  • Read all provided files carefully
  • Check file metadata, hidden content, encoding
  • Power Automate scripts may hide API calls
  • Use binary search when guessing multiple answers

Common Encodings

# Base64
echo "encoded" | base64 -d

# Base32 (A-Z2-7=)
echo "OBUWG32D..." | base32 -d

# Hex
echo "68656c6c6f" | xxd -r -p

# ROT13
echo "uryyb" | tr 'a-zA-Z' 'n-za-mN-ZA-M'

Identify by charset:

  • Base64: A-Za-z0-9+/=
  • Base32: A-Z2-7= (no lowercase)
  • Hex: 0-9a-fA-F

See encodings.md for Caesar brute force, URL encoding, and full details.

IEEE-754 Float Encoding (Data Hiding)

Pattern (Floating): Numbers are float32 values hiding raw bytes.

Key insight: A 32-bit float is just 4 bytes interpreted as a number. Reinterpret as raw bytes -> ASCII.

import struct
floats = [1.234e5, -3.456e-7, ...]  # Whatever the challenge gives
flag = b''
for f in floats:
    flag += struct.pack('>f', f)
print(flag.decode())

Variations: Double '>d', little-endian '<f', mixed. See encodings.md for CyberChef recipe.

USB Mouse PCAP Reconstruction

Pattern (Hunt and Peck): USB HID mouse traffic captures on-screen keyboard typing. Use USB-Mouse-Pcap-Visualizer, extract click coordinates (falling edges), cumsum relative deltas for absolute positions, overlay on OSK image.

File Type Detection

file unknown_file
xxd unknown_file | head
binwalk unknown_file

Archive Extraction

7z x archive.7z           # Universal
tar -xzf archive.tar.gz   # Gzip
tar -xjf archive.tar.bz2  # Bzip2
tar -xJf archive.tar.xz   # XZ

Nested Archive Script

while f=$(ls *.tar* *.gz *.bz2 *.xz *.zip *.7z 2>/dev/null|head -1) && [ -n "$f" ]; do
    7z x -y "$f" && rm "$f"
done

QR Codes

zbarimg qrcode.png       # Decode
qrencode -o out.png "data"

MaxiCode barcode: Hexagonal 2D barcode with bullseye center; decode with zxing (Java) since standard QR decoders fail. See encodings-advanced.md.

TOPKEK encoding: CTF-specific binary encoding where KEK=0, TOP=1, ! suffix = repeat count. See encodings-advanced.md.

See encodings.md for QR structure, repair techniques, chunk reassembly (structural and indexed-directory variants), and multi-stage URL encoding chains.

Audio Challenges

sox audio.wav -n spectrogram  # Visual data
qsstv                          # SSTV decoder

RF / SDR / IQ Signal Processing

See rf-sdr.md for full details (IQ formats, QAM-16 demod, carrier/timing recovery).

Quick reference:

  • cf32: np.fromfile(path, dtype=np.complex64) | cs16: int16 reshape(-1,2) | cu8: RTL-SDR raw
  • Circles in constellation = constant frequency offset; Spirals = drifting frequency + gain instability
  • 4-fold ambiguity in DD carrier recovery - try 0/90/180/270 rotation

pwntools Interaction

from pwn import *

r = remote('host', port)
r.recvuntil(b'prompt: ')
r.sendline(b'answer')
r.interactive()

Python Jail Quick Reference

  • Oracle pattern: L() = length, Q(i,x) = compare, S(guess) = submit. Linear or binary search.
  • Walrus bypass: (abcdef := "new_chars") reassigns constraint vars
  • Decorator bypass: @import + @func.class.dict[name.name].get for no-call, no-quotes escape
  • String join: open(''.join(['fl','ag.txt'])).read() when + is blocked

See pyjails.md for full techniques.

Z3 / Constraint Solving

from z3 import *
flag = [BitVec(f'f{i}', 8) for i in range(FLAG_LEN)]
s = Solver()
# Add constraints, check sat, extract model

See games-and-vms.md for YARA rules, type systems as constraints, boolean logic gate network SAT solving.

Hash Identification

MD5: 0x67452301 | SHA-256: 0x6a09e667 | MurmurHash64A: 0xC6A4A7935BD1E995

SHA-256 Length Extension Attack

MAC = SHA-256(SECRET || msg) with known msg/hash -> forge valid MAC via hlextend. Vulnerable: SHA-256, MD5, SHA-1. NOT: HMAC, SHA-3.

More skills from ljagiello/ctf-skills

  • Fctf-ai-mlProvides AI and machine learning techniques for CTF challenges. Use when attacking ML models, crafting adversarial examples, performing model extraction, prompt injection, membership inference, training data poisoning, fine-tuning manipulation, neural network analysis, LoRA adapter exploitation, LLM jailbreaking, or solving AI-related puzzles.
  • Actf-cryptoProvides cryptography attack techniques for CTF challenges. Use when attacking encryption, hashing, signatures, ZKP, PRNG, or mathematical crypto problems involving RSA, AES, ECC, lattices, LWE, CVP, number theory, Coppersmith, Pollard, Wiener, padding oracle, GCM, key derivation, or stream/block cipher weaknesses.
  • Cctf-forensicsProvides digital forensics and signal analysis techniques for CTF challenges. Use when analyzing disk images, memory dumps, event logs, network captures, cryptocurrency transactions, steganography, PDF analysis, Windows registry, Volatility, PCAP, Docker images, coredumps, side-channel power traces, DTMF audio spectrograms, packet timing analysis, CD audio disc images, or recovering deleted files and credentials.
  • Actf-malwareProvides malware analysis and network traffic techniques for CTF challenges. Use when analyzing obfuscated scripts, malicious packages, custom crypto protocols, C2 traffic, PE/.NET binaries, RC4/AES encrypted communications, YARA rules, shellcode analysis, memory forensics for malware (Volatility malfind, process injection detection), anti-analysis techniques (VM/sandbox detection, timing evasion, API hashing, process injection, environment checks), or extracting malware configurations and indicators of compromise.
  • Actf-osintProvides open source intelligence techniques for CTF challenges. Use when gathering information from public sources, social media, geolocation, DNS records, username enumeration, reverse image search, Google dorking, Wayback Machine, Tor relays, FEC filings, or identifying unknown data like hashes and coordinates.
  • Fctf-pwnProvides binary exploitation techniques for CTF challenges. Use when you already have a vulnerable native target or service and need to turn memory corruption or low-level primitives into code execution or privilege escalation, such as buffer overflows, format strings, heap bugs, ROP, ret2libc, shellcode, kernel exploitation, seccomp bypass, sandbox escape, or Windows/Linux exploit chains. Do not use it when the main blocker is understanding what the binary does; use reverse engineering first. Do not use it for pure web bugs, disk or packet forensics, or standalone crypto/math challenges.
  • Actf-reverseProvides reverse engineering techniques for CTF challenges. Use when the main job is to understand how a compiled, obfuscated, packed, or virtualized target works before exploiting or solving it, including binaries, APKs, WASM, firmware, custom VMs, bytecode, game clients, malware-like loaders, and anti-debug or anti-analysis logic. Do not use it when the vulnerability is already understood and the remaining task is exploitation; use pwn instead. Do not use it for pure web workflows, log or disk forensics, or standalone crypto problems unless reversing the implementation is the real blocker.
  • Fctf-webProvides web exploitation techniques for CTF challenges. Use when the target is primarily an HTTP application, API, browser client, template engine, identity flow, or smart-contract frontend/backend surface, including XSS, SQLi, SSTI, SSRF, XXE, JWT, auth bypass, file upload, request smuggling, OAuth/OIDC, SAML, prototype pollution, and similar web bugs. Do not use it for native binary memory corruption, reverse engineering of standalone executables, disk or memory forensics, or pure cryptanalysis unless the web flaw is still the main path to the flag.
  • Actf-writeupGenerates a single standardized submission-style CTF writeup for competition handoff and organizer review. Use after solving a CTF challenge to document the solution steps, tools used, and lessons learned in a structured format.
  • Asolve-challengeSolves CTF challenges by performing first-pass triage, identifying the dominant category, and routing execution to the right specialized ctf-* skill. Use when the user gives you a challenge bundle, a remote service, a suspicious file, or only a vague challenge description and you must determine where to start. Do not use it when the category is already clear and a specialized skill can be invoked directly; this is the dispatcher and recon entrypoint, not the deepest reference for category-specific techniques.

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