MIDNIGHT FLAG CTF 2025 - Operation Silent Hunt

Difficulty: Medium
Category: OSINT
Author: Chic0s & Papyruss


📝 Description

During the theft of a hard drive containing sensitive data, the attacker made a crucial mistake — they left their phone at the scene. Your mission: follow the digital breadcrumbs and uncover the exact address where the hard drive is hidden.

⚠️ But be careful — getting caught could compromise the entire operation.

Important: All OSINT must be conducted using the following websites only:

🔗 Virtual Phone: https://message-app.midnightflag.fr/


🕵️ Step 1 – Unlock the Phone

You are given access to a virtual phone interface.

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  • There’s an Instagram notification visible on the lock screen.

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  • You can swipe to unlock, but a password is required.

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Let’s investigate the notification.

Instagram Username: aydenr_aymond

Open: https://www.instagram.com/aydenr_aymond/

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You’ll find a post with this caption:

“My cat, you were born on 02/04/2025… and you’ve been a little miracle ever since. Every day with you is filled with purrs, cuddles, and quiet joy. Thank you for choosing my couch for your naps and my heart for your home. 🐾💛”

📌 Hashtag clue: #020425

Try using 020425 as the phone passcode.

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Success! Phone unlocked.


🕵️ Step 2 – Tracking the Hard Drive

Upon reading chat messages on the phone, you discover the hard drive was listed on a site developed by Eloan Frank. You can chat with him through the app.

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From the chat:

⚠️ Important: Make sure to use the correct conversation (Arielle) when retrieving the credentials. The correct chat is identifiable via a shared image in Eloan Frank’s profile.

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Use the provided credentials to log into the marketplace.

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📦 In the recent transactions, you’ll see that the hard drive was sold and is now DELIVERY IN PROGRESS.

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Use the shared image to identify which hard drive listing is relevant.

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🕵️ Step 3 – Digging Deeper: Eloan Frank

Now it’s time for online investigation.

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Check the user profile section of the virtual phone. You’ll find:

Search results:

  • Instagram / Twitter → No useful data
  • LinkedIn → ✅ Match found

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On LinkedIn:

  • Eloan is confirmed as a freelancer.

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  • The same profile picture is used as on the phone.

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  • You’ll also find a link to their GitHub account.

🕵️ Step 4 – The GitHub Trail

GitHub Profile: https://github.com/El0-E

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You’ll find a repository named FastBroc, an open-source marketplace — very similar to the one you accessed earlier.

Open Source :

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Your Market:

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In the README.md:

⚠️ Security Warning — Administrator credentials are hardcoded, which is a major vulnerability.

Dig into the code. In /app/page.tsx, you’ll find:

if (username === "admin" && password === "supersecret123") {
  localStorage.setItem("fastbroc_user", username)
  localStorage.setItem("fastbroc_admin", "true")
  setCurrentUser(username)
  setIsAdmin(true)
  alert("Admin access granted!")
} else {
  alert("Invalid credentials")
}

🧠 Try logging into your FastSale marketplace with:

  • Username: admin
  • Password: supersecret123

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✅ Admin access granted!


🕵️ Final Step – Tracing the Buyer

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You now have:

  • Delivery Date & Time
  • Buyer Username: Darkythedark42

Search for this user on social platforms.

📍 Only one match appears — on Twitter.

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There’s a photo attached in the tweet. Use:

  • Google Image Search to identify the house style
  • Combine that with text clues from the image and background
  • This suggests the exchange will occur in Rennes, France

Upon zooming in and doing a reverse image + text search, you’ll identify the location as a bar.

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Find the exact address of the bar via Google Maps.

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🏁 Final Flag:

MCTF{48_rue_de_saint-brieuc_rennes}

Chic0s

(lambda hex_str: [print(chr(int(hex_str[i:i+2], 16))) for i in range(0, len(hex_str), 2)])(“45534e412053747564656e74”)

Walking

OSINT Challenge for CTF

By Chic0s, 2025-06-23