F.A.Q.

This is a Capture The Flag (CTF) competition, not a guided workshop. The goal is to solve puzzles and find hidden "flags." We don't provide a list of tools or step-by-step instructions because figuring that out is part of the fun!

That's the million-dollar question! The core of a CTF is to open your mind, research methodologies, and discover the right tool for the job. Your ability to investigate a strange file format or a weird block of text is what's being tested. Google is your most valuable tool.

This CTF is accessible over the public internet and is not designed to bypass corporate security controls. If a tool or website is blocked on your work device, please use a personal laptop or a separate virtual machine to access the challenges. This is often necessary for security research and competitions.

"My VM" gives you a personal, in-browser terminal (a webshell) that you can use to connect to certain challenges. For challenges that provide connection info like `ssh user@host -p 12345`, this is the perfect place to run that command.

First, try a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R). If a container challenge just started, give it 30-60 seconds to initialize. If it's still not working after a minute, please report the issue in the support channel with the challenge name.

Always start with the challenge itself. Every title and description has been carefully thought through and often contains a subtle nudge or a direct clue—don't overlook them! We may also release official hints in the Announcements.

You're right! This is Nexus 2.0, and we've leveled up the puzzles to match your skills. Expect more multi-step problems and, of course, more "Echoes" between challenges.

"Echoes" means that challenges are connected. A piece of information from one challenge (like a username, a password, or an IP address) might be the key to solving a completely different one. Keep notes! Recognizing these echoes is crucial to progressing.

The required format is `vctf{...}`. The content inside the braces is generally not case-sensitive. If you find a readable flag with spaces (e.g., "secret phrase"), you must replace the spaces with underscores. For example: `vctf{secret_phrase}`.

An alias is a pseudonym or a fun nickname you can choose for the scoreboard. Be creative, but please keep it appropriate!

To prevent spam and brute-forcing, submitting too many incorrect flags in a short period will result in a temporary timeout. All challenges have been tested and have a specific, exact answer. There are no "close" or approximate flags. Always look for the precise `vctf{flag_String}` format.