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SSH: ssh bandit9@bandit.labs.overthewire.org -p 2220

Password: UsvVyFSfZZWbi6wgC7dAFyFuR6jQQUhR

Task

The password for the next level is stored in the file data.txt in one of the few human-readable strings, preceded by several ‘=’ characters.

A little bit of Theory

The strings command finds human-readable strings in files. Specifically, it prints sequences of printable characters. Its main use is for non-printable files like hex dumps or executables.

Solution

1. First, we need to distinguish human-readable strings in ‘data.txt’. We use the strings command.
2. Next, we want to filter that output by looking at lines that include more than one equal sign. - Assuming the equal signs and the password are on the same line, we can use grep again (as in Level 6). Since the task was unspecific regarding the number of equal signs, I used 3. However, next to the password, there are not too many lines with equal signs, so any amount between 1 and 10 would work (however, 2 to 10 would give the same result).

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bandit9@bandit:~$ strings data.txt | grep ===
========== the*2i"4
========== password
Z)========== is
&========== truKLdjsbJ5g7yyJ2X2R0o3a5HQJFuLk

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