STORY DRIVEN OSINT CTF

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medium
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insane

Road To Nowhere

Briefing

Greetings, Special Agent.

We’ll be needing your assistance on a geolocation matter. One of our clients, a medium sized European government agency, has requested we find a needle in a haystack.

Our client is involved in fighting terrorist groups in Asia and Africa. Recently, they gained access to a Dropbox account filled with map data. Most of these seem to be related to safe houses used by a terrorist organization called “The Meercats”. Indeed a strange name, but nontheless, they mean business.

After having located most safehouses, our client is still struggling to locate a few of them. Since the operation to take down all of these locations needs to be synchronized. There’s an urgent need to identify them all before the next phase can begin.

Below you find an image of what appears to be a village, with a red marker to indicate the exact location. It’s your assignment to find where in the world this is. Currently we have reason to believe this to be either in Africa or Asia. But, given the organizations’ widespread members, this is only a guess at this time.

As always, Special Agent, the contract is yours, if you choose to accept.

Materials

Download the starting materials

Answer Instruction

Use the answer to unlock the flagfile, this will reward you with your badge.

Use the coordinates you find as the answer. Also, we heard the number 1920 is of importance in this case.

Flagfile

Be advised, the flagfile is an encrypted ZIP. Make sure your OS supports the ZIP format. Ensure the password contains no hidden characters or formatting, paste in Notepad first if the password doesn’t seem to work.

Download Flagfile here

PS: Don’t forget to claim your Coins and XP, by posting your card in the #card-brag channel in Discord.

Official Write-up

Provided here is the official write-up, it does contain the answer. Use this if you’re stuck, or want to verify if you got the answer correct.

Road to Nowhere

A satellite image contains hidden coordinates for a terrorist safehouse location. The coordinates are concealed using steganography and must be extracted using a specific password.

Available Materials

  1. Satellite image of a village
  2. Hint about number 1920
  3. Geographic context (Asia/Africa)
  4. Information about “The Meercats” organization

Solution Path

Stage 1: Initial Analysis

  1. Examine provided satellite image
  2. Note marker indicating target location
  3. Remember significance of number 1920

Stage 2: Steganography

Extract hidden data:

  1. Use steghide or similar tool
  2. Password: 1920
  3. Extract location.txt file
  4. Retrieve coordinates

Answer Format

The coordinates format:

20.899370,95.118041,16

Key formatting requirements:

  1. Include all decimal places
  2. Use periods for decimals
  3. Use commas between components
  4. Include zoom level (16)
  5. No spaces

Required Tools

  1. Steganography software (steghide)
  2. Image analysis tools
  3. Text editor
  4. Coordinate validator
  5. Map visualization tool

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

  1. Wrong steghide password
  2. Missing decimal places
  3. Incorrect coordinate format
  4. Missing zoom level
  5. Extra spaces in coordinates

Verification Steps

  1. Use steghide to extract data
  2. Verify coordinate format
  3. Check decimal precision
  4. Validate location in Myanmar
  5. Confirm zoom level

Remember: Pay attention to exact coordinate formatting and ensure all components are included in the final answer.

Creator(s): Frank Diepmaat