The log contains thousands of entries from a single IP address——attempting to log in via SSH as the user developer . The timestamps show multiple attempts per second, a clear indicator of an automated brute-force script. 3. Finding the Successful Entry
The log file is a central artifact in the "Forensic" challenge from the 2022 CAICC (Cyber Assessment and Training Center) competition.
: Found by identifying the final password attempted before the "Accepted" status log. log_2022-11-16T013005.log
Nov 16 01:35:12 ubuntu sshd[4201]: Accepted password for developer from 192.168.1.15 port 52432 ssh2
To find the flag (the password), search for the transition from "Failed password" to "Accepted password" for that specific user and IP. grep "Accepted password" log_2022-11-16T013005.log Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard The log contains thousands of entries from a
The file is a standard Unix/Linux auth.log or secure log snippet. To begin, you would typically use grep or sort to identify patterns of failed login attempts.
: Identify the attacker's source IP, the targeted username, and the successful password. Analysis Steps 1. Initial Inspection Finding the Successful Entry The log file is
In this challenge, participants are tasked with analyzing a Linux system log to identify evidence of a brute-force attack and determine the successful credentials used by the attacker. File Name : log_2022-11-16T013005.log Category : Digital Forensics / Log Analysis