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authorW. Kosior <koszko@koszko.org>2024-05-27 12:19:19 +0200
committerW. Kosior <koszko@koszko.org>2024-05-27 12:29:59 +0200
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+\documentclass[notes]{beamer}
+\usetheme{Rochester}
+\usecolortheme{seagull}
+\usepackage{svg}
+\usepackage[export]{adjustbox}
+
+% \setbeameroption{show notes}
+
+\title{CTF — GNU Guix storefile mistake}
+
+\begin{document}
+
+\frame{
+ \titlepage
+ \begin{figure}[h]
+ \includesvg[height=0.25\textheight]{Guix_logo_with_flag.svg}
+ \end{figure}
+}
+
+
+\begin{frame}{Functional package management in a pill}
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item Dolstra, Eelco (2006). ``The Purely Functional Software Deployment
+ Model'' (Ph.D.). Utrecht University
+ \item pioneered by Nix \includesvg[height=\baselineskip]{Nix_logo.svg}
+ \item also employed by GNU Guix
+ \includesvg[height=\baselineskip]{Guix_logo.svg}
+ \item no Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (no /usr/bin, /usr/share, etc.)
+ \item packages live in a \textbf{store} directory, e.g.
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item /gnu/store/y0d8ab1mi6lh0a3vpx5lyd4ksq9wbn4x-orc-0.4.32
+ \item /gnu/store/9pypr3c3y379shbwm9ilb4pik9mkfd83-mesa-22.2.4
+ \item /gnu/store/rv91v4s30kcjh7xq6k4l2njklk79frxk-freeglut-3.4.0
+ \item /gnu/store/30zfbjasrsk2wg8nhsd1xgi3q3n9796z-less-608
+ \end{itemize}
+ \item a daemon \includesvg[height=\baselineskip]{Awesome_Demon.svg} builds
+ packages from definitions and puts them in the store
+ \end{itemize}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item we're using GNU Guix here (no, not the trademarked GUIX…)
+ \item store filename determine by hash of package inputs + definition
+ \item multiple versions of a package can coexist
+ \item per-project development environments
+ \item easy rollbacks
+ \item emphasis on reproducible builds
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}[fragile]{Functional package management in a pill (sample package)}
+ \small
+\begin{verbatim}
+$ cd /gnu/store/30zfbjasrsk2wg8nhsd1xgi3q3n9796z-less-608/
+$ find . -type f
+./bin/less
+./bin/lessecho
+./bin/lesskey
+./etc/ld.so.cache
+./share/doc/less-608/LICENSE
+./share/doc/less-608/COPYING
+./share/man/man1/lessecho.1.gz
+./share/man/man1/lesskey.1.gz
+./share/man/man1/less.1.gz
+$ ls -lh bin/less
+-r-xr-xr-x 2 root root 192K Jan 1 1970 bin/less
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item store is read-only (only Nix/Guix daemon can write)
+ \item store files are root-owned and world-readable => secrets must be managed
+ differently
+ \item dates set to Epoch (but ls -lch shows real creation time)
+ \item the same package won't be built twice, even if requested by multiple
+ users
+ \item a package will built again (or grafted) when one of its dependencies
+ gets updated
+ \item a package not in use can be garbage-collected
+ \item no support for quotas yet as of 2024
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}[fragile]{Functional package management in a pill (declarative OS)}
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item \textbf{packages} are defined declaratively
+ \pause
+ \item \textbf{services} are defined declaratively as well
+ \pause
+ \item service \textbf{configurations} are defined declaratively \textit{as
+ well}… {\small
+\begin{verbatim}
+(service httpd-service-type
+ (httpd-configuration
+ (config
+ (httpd-config-file
+ (server-name "www.example.com")
+ (document-root "/var/public_html")))))
+\end{verbatim}
+ }
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item …and result in store files like
+ /gnu/store/54ywa5x1b75simbvzhxqkfxsjk040ail-httpd.conf
+ \end{itemize}
+ \item Yay, we can replace Ansible! But what about secrets?
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item option 1: keep private keys and passwords outside the store
+ \item option 2: put them encrypted in the store
+ \end{itemize}
+ \end{itemize}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item GNU Guix and Nix have their DSLs (the first one is actually Scheme Lisp
+ + some APIs)
+ \item on Guix/Nix server packages and configurations are immutable (we can
+ switch to different ones but not alter the existing ones) — convenient
+ \item an application may require database credentials, some API token, a
+ private key for TLS certificate, etc.
+ \item encrypted secrets in store — one master key kept outside the store
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Sensitive information exposure scenario}
+ challenge — password hunt in /gnu/store\\~\\
+
+ \textit{``You're an employee of a secret government agency. Analysis of
+ wiretap recordings have lead the agency to believe that an individual known
+ as Abdul Al-Inh-Ohn-Ih has come into possession of highly classified
+ government documents. If this turn out true and Abdul blows the whistle on
+ information from those materials, years of intelligence efforts shall be
+ ruined.\\~\\}
+
+ \textit{Abdul has been using the Matrix protocol for some of his
+ communication. Your current task is to get access to his Matrix account.
+ Start your investigation by taking a look at his blog.''}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ A user of certain shared GNU Guix system has put a secret (a password) in
+ /gnu/store by mistake. The CTF competitioneer has to SSH into another account
+ on said system and find the password.
+
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item we have some lore
+ \item real-world references might be intended or not…
+ \item no direct info about the exposures (one needs to figure this out)
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Investigation (Abdul's blog)}
+ \includegraphics[
+ height=\dimexpr\textheight-0.5cm\relax,
+ center
+ ]{screenshots/abdul-blog-index.png}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item language — itself a hint Abdul is likely to make mistakes
+ \item only the few relevant blog entries (no misleading of competitioneers)
+ \item mechanics of Guix relevant to the challenge are touched in the posts
+ \item some extra effort required — obtaining a Gemini browser
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}[fragile]{Investigation (peeking through Gemini)}
+ \includegraphics[
+ height=\dimexpr\textheight-0.5cm\relax,
+ center
+ ]{screenshots/gemini-capsule.png}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item most relevant parts of blog only accessible through Gemini (a lightweight
+ alternative to HTTP)
+ \item a Gemini browser ``Lagrage'' recommended in HTTP part of Abdul's blog
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}[fragile]{Investigation (Spotting mistakes)}
+ configuration which hits a mistake is included in Abdul's blog
+ \footnotesize
+\begin{verbatim}
+;;; ...
+(list (shepherd-service
+ (provision '(mattermost))
+ (modules '((shepherd support))) ;for '%user-log-dir'
+ (start #~(make-forkexec-constructor
+ '(#$(file-append matterbridge "/bin/matterbridge")
+ "--conf"
+ #$(local-file "config.toml"))
+ #:log-file (string-append %user-log-dir
+ "/matterbridge.log")))
+ (stop #~(make-kill-destructor))
+ (documentation "Start local matterbridge.")))))
+;;; ...
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item the config suggests Matrix password is in config.toml in /gnu/store
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Investigation (Account creation)}
+ \includegraphics[
+ height=\dimexpr\textheight-0.5cm\relax,
+ center
+ ]{screenshots/account-creation.png}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item both Abdul's blog and the server's main website urge one to make an
+ account and log in to the tilde server with SSH
+ \item emails entered not actually used
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Hint 1}
+ \includegraphics[
+ height=\dimexpr\textheight-0.5cm\relax,
+ center
+ ]{screenshots/hint1.png}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item page with the hint accessible through Gemini only
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Hint 2}
+ \includegraphics[
+ height=\dimexpr\textheight-0.5cm\relax,
+ center
+ ]{screenshots/hint2.png}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item link to GNU Guix HTML documentation
+ \item suggestion that it has sth to do with the local-file macro (used in
+ Abdul's code)
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}[fragile]{Finding the flag}
+\begin{verbatim}
+~$ (cd /gnu/store && ls -cht *config.toml*)
+qmdh299prllp4fygw893w00lv9ypi5z2-config.toml
+~$
+\end{verbatim}
+
+rather expected contents of qmdh299prllp4fygw893w00lv9ypi5z2-config.toml
+
+\small
+\begin{verbatim}
+# ...
+[matrix.noevil-pl]
+Server="https://matrix.noevil.pl"
+Login="abdul"
+Password="fla\u0067{full_source-bootstrap}"
+RemoteNickFormat="[{PROTOCOL}] <{NICK}> "
+NoHomeServerSuffix=false
+# ...
+\end{verbatim}
+\end{frame}
+
+\note{
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item ``g'' in flag replaced with unicode escape to make bypassing with
+ recursive grepping harder
+ \end{itemize}
+}
+
+\begin{frame}{Credits}
+ \begin{itemize}
+ \item GNU Guix logo — \copy 2015 Luis Felipe López Acevedo (CC BY-SA 4.0
+ International)
+ \item red flag — by Wikipedia user Wereon, uploaded 2007 (released into
+ public domain)
+ \item Nix logo — \copy 2016 Tim Cuthbertson (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)
+ \item Awesome Demon — by Openclipart user qubodup, uploaded 2014 (released
+ into public domain with CC Zero v1.0)
+ \end{itemize}
+\end{frame}
+
+\end{document}