bandit-wargame-writeup

🏴 OverTheWire: Bandit Wargame – Full Writeup (Levels 0 to 33)

🚀 Overview

This repository contains my full, level-by-level writeup for the OverTheWire: Bandit wargame, which is a beginner-friendly but powerful challenge to build Linux command-line, scripting, file system, and networking skills.

🎯 I completed all 33 levels, from Bandit0 → Bandit33, learning something new on almost every level.

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📑 What’s Inside Each Writeup

Each .md file contains:

• 🧭 Level Goal
• 📂 Commands Used
• 🧠 Takeaways
• 🔐 Password (for your own progress tracking)

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🔧 Tools & Skills Used

Throughout the challenge, I used and practiced with:

• ssh, scp, cat, ls, file, strings, grep
• find, tar, gzip, bzip2, cut, base64, xxd
• netcat (nc), nmap, telnet, tmux. git, more
• Shell redirection (>, <, |), piping, process control
• Basic scripting & chaining commands with logic

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🧠 Challenges I Learned From Most

Some of the trickier or more insightful levels for me:

• Level 16: Logging into another level via cronjob password drops
• Level 20-21: Setting up your own listener with nc and grabbing a connection from the remote side
• Level 23-24: Using tcpdump to capture and extract passwords from raw traffic
• Level 25-26+: Automating binary exploits & manipulating permission bits
• Level 33: Escaping a closed shell, trying to break it somehow

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📘 Why This Matters (Especially for Beginners)

Bandit isn’t just about solving challenges, it’s about learning:

• Real Linux file structures
• Tool chaining and manual exploitation
• Thinking like a security analyst or pentester
• Building muscle memory with tools that show up in actual CTFs, internships, and even jobs

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📌 How to Use This Repo

Feel free to use my notes to:

• Guide your own Bandit journey
• Reference commands you might forget
• Learn shell logic and common tools

If you use this, I recommend you:

• Try levels yourself first
• Only use this repo as a fallback when stuck

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📬 Contact / Connect

Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or check out my other projects on GitHub.

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🏁 Final Words

If you’re just getting started in cybersecurity, I 100% recommend Bandit.
It’ll build your basics faster than any course or tutorial, and it’s free.