Flare-on 11 Challenge 5 Write-up — SSHD:
OR why I prefer debugging over hiking
Alright, confession time. I am here sitting in this amazing hotel right in the middle of New Zealand’s best views of the south island and reverse engineering a crash dump. Why? well, first of all, because it’s fun but mostly, because I’m not going to fail this year’s Flare-on challenge no matter what. I have a record to keep.
While everyone is out there enjoying the great outdoors, hiking up some majestic mountain trail with breathtaking views, I’m here, sitting comfortably in front of my screen, trying to reverse-engineer an sshd crash dump, which is actually the core of challenge 5 in the Flare-on11 annual challenge. Who needs fresh air and sore legs when you can breathe in assembly code and chase down some communication protocols, right?
Don’t get me wrong, hiking is fine… for people who like that sort of thing. But there’s something about unraveling the intricacies of a piece of software, digging deep into its binary soul, that gets my heart racing way more than a steep incline ever could. So, grab a drink (preferably caffeinated), and let me take you on a journey of how I cracked challenge number 5 of the 11th annual Flare-on Challenge called “sshd”.
