Someone sent me this weird file and I don’t understand it. It’s freaking me out, this isn’t a game! Please help me figure out what’s in this file.
Author: hackucf_kcolley
Write-up
The content of file is:
x = 0, y = 0, rule = B3/S23
3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob
3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3o$obobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobo
bobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobo
bobobobobob3o$obobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobob
obobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobob3o
$obobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobo
bobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobobob3o$3ob3ob3ob3ob
3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob3ob
3ob3ob3ob3ob3o$$5bo2bobobobo2b2obo3b2o3bo4bobo3bobo19bo2b2o2bo2b2o2b2o
2bobob3o2b2ob3ob3ob3o11bo5bo3b3o$5bo2bobob3ob2o4bob2o3bo3bo3bo3bo3bo
16bobobob2o4bo3bobobobo3bo5bobobobobo2bo3bo3bo2b3o2bo4bo$5bo6bobo2b2o
2bo2b3o6bo3bo2bobob3o5b3o6bo2bobo2bo3bo3bo2b3ob2o2b3o2bo2b3ob3o9bo9bo
2bo$12b3ob2o2bo3bobo6bo3bo7bo3bo10bo3bobo2bo2bo5bo3bo3bobobobo3bobo3bo
2bo3bo3bo2b3o2bo$5bo6bobo2bo4bo2b2o7bobo11bo8bo2bo3b2o3bo2b3ob2o4bob2o
2b3obo3b3ob2o6bo5bo5bo4bo$$bo3bo2b2o3b2ob2o2b3ob3o2b2obobob3o3bobobobo
3bobobobo2bo2b2o3bo2b2o3b2ob3obobobobobobobobobobob3ob3o5b3o2bo$obobob
obobobo3bobobo3bo3bo3bobo2bo4bobobobo3b3ob3obobobobobobobobobo4bo2bobo
bobobobobobobobo3bobo3bo5bobobo$3ob3ob2o2bo3bobob3ob3ob3ob3o2bo4bob2o
2bo3b3ob3obobob2o2bobob3o2bo3bo2bobobobob3o2bo3bo3bo2bo4bo4bo$o3bobobo
bobo3bobobo3bo3bobobobo2bo2bobobobobo3bobob3obobobo3b3ob2o4bo2bo2bobo
2bo2b3obobo2bo2bo3bo5bo3bo$b2obobob2o3b2ob2o2b3obo4b2obobob3o2bo2bobob
3obobobobo2bo2bo4b2obobob2o3bo3b2o2bo2bobobobo2bo2b3ob3o5b3o5b3o$$o7bo
9bo7bo5bo4bo4bobo3b2o31bo27b2o2bo2b2o3b2ob3o$bo2b2o2b2o3b2o2b2o2b2o2bo
3b2ob2o10bobo2bo2b3ob2o3bo2b2o3b2o2b2o2b2ob3obobobobobobobobobobob3o2b
o3bo3bo2b2o2b3o$5b2obobobo3bobobobob3obobobobo2bo4bob2o3bo2b3obobobobo
bobobobobo3b2o3bo2bobobobob3o2bo2bobo2b2obo9bo5b3o$4bobobobobo3bobob2o
3bo2b3obobo2bo4bob2o3bo2b3obobobobobobobobobo4b2o2bo2bobob3ob3o2bo3b2o
b2o3bo3bo3bo6b3o$4b3ob2o3b2o2b2o2b2o2bo4bobobo2bo2bobobobob3obobobobo
2bo2b2o3b2obo3b2o3b2o2b2o2bo2b3obobo3bob3o2b2o2bo2b2o6b3o$29bo11bo22bo
5bo30bo!$$$$13b2o2bo2bo4bo15b2o6bo6b2o11bo2b2o$b2obobob2o3bo2b3ob2o2b2o
3b2o5bobobobob2o2b3o6bo2b2o3b2ob3o2bo$2o2bobobobobo4bo2bobo2bo2b2o6b3o
bobobobo2bo7bo3b2ob2o3bo4bo$b2obobobobo2bo3bo2bobo2bo3b2o5b3obobobobo
2bo7bo2bobo2b2o2bo3bo$2o3b2obobo2b2o2b2obobo2bo2b2o2b3ob3ob2o2bobo2b2o
b3ob3ob3ob2o3b2ob2o!
Looking for golly on Google, I’ve found a software called Golly that simulates Conway’s Game of Life, accordingly specific rule and algorithm. So, I downloaded this software and tried to run its binary, but it claimed for libpng12.so.0 and this lib is too old. That is not a problem, just downloaded a package from Debian repository (my distro is Kali), extracted this lib with dpkg -x libpng12-0_1.2.50-2+deb8u3_amd64.deb and moved them to respective paths. Running golly binary again and loading file I’ve got this:
When I clicked play button, it showed nothing interesting, so I decided to talk with the owner of the challenge to give me some tip and he told me “to look closer in the file”. So me and my friend Juca Sanches analyzed it and Juca found out that exclamation means end of pattern, just described here:
The data is ordered a row at a time from top to bottom, and each row is ordered left to right. A "$" represents the end of each row and an optional "!" represents the end of the pattern.
So if exclamation represents the end of pattern, it means that has more than one pattern on the file. So, after some tries at the file, we’ve found this pattern below:
x = 0, y = 0, rule = B3/S23
$$$$13b2o2bo2bo4bo15b2o6bo6b2o11bo2b2o$b2obobob2o3bo2b3ob2o2b2o
3b2o5bobobobob2o2b3o6bo2b2o3b2ob3o2bo$2o2bobobobobo4bo2bobo2bo2b2o6b3o
bobobobo2bo7bo3b2ob2o3bo4bo$b2obobobobo2bo3bo2bobo2bo3b2o5b3obobobobo
2bo7bo2bobo2b2o2bo3bo$2o3b2obobo2b2o2b2obobo2bo2b2o2b3ob3ob2o2bobo2b2o
b3ob3ob3ob2o3b2ob2o!
This give us a flag:
Flag
sun{th1s_w0nt_last}
Acknowledgement
Juca Sanches