B007l3G CRYP70
While doing a pentest of a company called MEGACORP's network, you find these numbers laying around on an FTP server:
41 36 37 27 35 38 55 30 40 47 35 34 43 35 29 32 38 37 33 45 39 30 36
27 32 35 36 52 72 54 39 42 30 30 58 27 37 44 72 47 28 46 45 41 48 39
27 27 53 64 32 58 43 23 37 44 32 37 28 50 37 19 51 53 30 41 18 45 79
46 40 42 32 32 46 28 37 30 43 31 26 56 37 41 61 68 44 34 26 24 48 38
50 37 27 31 30 38 34 58 54 39 30 33 38 18 33 52 34 36 31 33 28 36 34
45 55 60 37 48 57 55 35 60 22 36 38 34.
Through further analysis of the network, you also find a network service
running. Can you piece this information together to find the flag?
Lets try to work out, what kind of ~encryption~ cipher it is.
Repeatedly encrypting the same message often gives out interesting pieces of information. Lets encrypt a a few times
Welcome to MEGACORP's proprietary encryption service! Just type your message below and out will come the encrypted text!
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 38 26 44 50
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 44 48 39 27
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 55 36 32 35
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 46 29 28 55
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 51 19 41 47
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 41 59 25 33
Cool! there is some random element associated with encryption process, hence it is producing different ciphertext each time a is encrypted.
Lets check how encryption varies with length of provided plaintext,
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: a
Your encrypted message is: 31 53 27 47
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: aa
Your encrypted message is: 47 38 44 29 47 42 36 33
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: aaa
Your encrypted message is: 29 54 37 38 31 53 33 41 40 53 50 15
Again, one can observe quickly that size of ciphertext is 4 times plaintext.
Now, with these kind of challenges, there is usually some kind of invariant associated with the ciphertext, which determines its association with corresponding plaintext.
My first guess was to try adding the four decimal values for encryption of a
38 + 26 + 44 + 50 = 158
44 + 48 + 39 + 27 = 158
55 + 36 + 32 + 35 = 158
46 + 29 + 28 + 55 = 158
51 + 19 + 41 + 47 = 158
41 + 59 + 25 + 33 = 158
NICE!! Lets verify if this invariant holds for other plaintext characters
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: b
Your encrypted message is: 43 23 45 46
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: b
Your encrypted message is: 20 58 29 50
43 + 23 + 45 + 46 = 157
20 + 58 + 29 + 50 = 157
Awesome, lets check how the invariant is carried across multiple blocks i.e. encryption of multiple plaintext characters
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: aa
Your encrypted message is: 20 48 46 44 36 50 34 38
Please enter the message you wish to encrypt: aaa
Your encrypted message is: 26 25 56 51 33 43 59 23 44 32 45 37
20 + 48 + 46 + 44 == 158 and 36 + 50 + 34 + 38 == 158
26 + 25 + 56 + 51 == 158, 33 + 43 + 59 + 23 == 158 and 44 + 32 + 45 + 37 == 158
YAY! No more headaches, each character is encrypted independently and has nothing to do with any other letter. Lets write a script to decrypt.
We will first find the encryptions of all characters, calculate each invariants, then map each invariant to the ciphertext.
characters = "012346789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ{}[]!@#$%^&*()_+,.;: '\""
encryptions = "72 45 46 44 53 44 51 58 50 45 65 45 81 32 49 42 45 70 41 47 32 48 64 57 47 25 70 58 63 22 64 50 62 44 49 43 25 54 25 54 31 54 36 36 25 38 47 46 44 30 31 50 57 32 33 32 44 34 37 38 45 21 46 40 48 29 38 36 49 37 39 25 23 43 49 34 33 44 35 36 28 34 39 46 32 50 33 31 34 35 42 34 48 41 25 30 42 29 24 48 27 41 42 32 24 43 33 41 34 38 25 43 38 47 19 35 45 45 25 23 41 21 33 42 43 35 24 34 35 35 30 35 39 23 38 34 23 29 37 44 47 48 61 34 61 42 50 36 31 51 51 55 33 53 54 47 37 56 38 55 54 45 59 27 51 51 39 43 58 34 29 62 31 52 48 51 53 29 35 64 53 57 18 52 63 30 42 44 71 32 33 42 29 53 46 49 32 44 51 49 40 63 25 47 33 53 63 25 62 24 38 49 46 57 33 36 35 40 42 54 29 49 44 48 33 26 60 50 63 31 32 42 48 26 48 45 47 38 28 53 25 43 36 61 19 45 40 28 26 35 33 36 46 49 20 49 33 45 51 33 60 41 65 56 55 44 67 25 34 71 64 51 51 67 67 34 55 57 33 73 45 32 43 41 61 51 68 37 61 67 46 39 45 41 56 73 52 65 48 49 40 38 38 44 30 66 70 46 52 54 55 50 68 47 50 44 63 47 56 30 40 53 49 55 85 54 37 47 63 48 64 41 62 72 30 57".split()
encryption_invariant = [ sum(map(int, encryptions[i:i+4])) for i in range(0,len(encryptions),4)]
to_decrypt = "41 36 37 27 35 38 55 30 40 47 35 34 43 35 29 32 38 37 33 45 39 30 36 27 32 35 36 52 72 54 39 42 30 30 58 27 37 44 72 47 28 46 45 41 48 39 27 27 53 64 32 58 43 23 37 44 32 37 28 50 37 19 51 53 30 41 18 45 79 46 40 42 32 32 46 28 37 30 43 31 26 56 37 41 61 68 44 34 26 24 48 38 50 37 27 31 30 38 34 58 54 39 30 33 38 18 33 52 34 36 31 33 28 36 34 45 55 60 37 48 57 55 35 60 22 36 38 34".split()
to_decrypt_invariant = [ sum(map(int, to_decrypt[i:i+4])) for i in range(0,len(to_decrypt),4)]
flag = ""
for value in to_decrypt_invariant:
flag += characters[encryption_invariant.index(value)]
print(flag)
YESSS, we got our flag ractf{d0n7_r0ll_y0ur_0wn_cryp70}
A really fun challenge