stephenemslie / stripe-ctf-2-vm

The Stripe Capture the Flag (CTF) 2 contest in a Virtualbox VM.

Stripe Capture the Flag (CTF) 2 in a Virtualbox VM

This repository provides the 2012 Stripe CTF 2.0 contest in the form of a Virtualbox VM, generated with Packer, suitable for conducting group exercises with a minimum of technical preparation.

The Capture the Flag (CTF) contest is an exercise for developers at all levels of experience, designed as a teaching aid to cover some of the basics of web security. There are nine puzzles in the contest, each with its own set of code to inspect and server to exploit, the first being the easiest and the last the hardest. To progress to the next puzzle you extract a password by finding and exploiting the security flaws in the current puzzle.

The instructions included here guide a group administrator to build the VM that will be used by all participants in an exercise. The participants then download and individually install a personal copy of the VM that each will use over the course of the CTF event.

At Bazaarvoice we have found that running through the first four or five levels in a group exercise with ten to twenty developers, split into small teams, takes about three hours and provides a good introduction to web security concepts. Expect to spend 15-30 minutes examining and solving a puzzle, with a 5-10 minute discussion after each, which can be used to elaborate on the vulnerabilities used and their relevance to current development work.

• Administrators: Creating the Virtualbox VM
• Participants: Taking Part in the CTF Contest
• Development Notes