Cybersecurity, AI & Python Programming Blog

Cybersecurity blog featuring artificial intelligence projects, Python programming tutorials, CTF writeups, and security research by Mark LaCore.

Contain Me If You Can CTF: Container Escape via a Plaintext Postgres Connection

2026-05-24 12:00:00 14 min read

Wiz Cloud Security Championship #2 writeup: sniff a plaintext PostgreSQL credential with tcpdump, get superuser RCE via COPY FROM PROGRAM, abuse passwordless sudo, and mount the host block device to read /flag.

Synaptic Sync CTF: AES-GCM Nonce Reuse and the Forbidden Attack

2026-05-23 16:00:00 18 min read

LevelUpCTF Synaptic Sync writeup: a deterministic AES-GCM nonce derived from the Node ID leaks the GHASH authentication key via the Joux forbidden attack, enabling arbitrary tag forgery and a duplicate-JSON-key command override.

RouteGuard Structural Audit CTF: CBC Bit-Flipping for Privilege Escalation

2026-05-23 15:00:00 12 min read

LevelUpCTF RouteGuard Structural Audit writeup: AES-CBC session tokens with no MAC, escalate guest to admin via a 5-byte IV XOR flip, brute-force 3 blocks x 12 offsets to locate the role field.

Perimeter Leak CTF: Bypassing an AWS Data Perimeter with Pre-Signed URLs

2026-05-23 14:00:00 14 min read

Wiz Cloud Security Championship Challenge 01 writeup: chain Spring Boot Actuator exposure, a method/header-forwarding /proxy SSRF, IMDSv2 credential theft, and offline S3 pre-signed URLs to bypass a VPC-bound AWS data perimeter.

SproutLogix Metadata Aggregator CTF: SSRF via Loopback Bypass

2026-05-23 12:00:00 9 min read

LevelUpCTF SproutLogix Heritage Metadata Aggregator SSRF writeup: bypass a localhost/127.0.0.1 string blocklist with a decimal-encoded loopback address (http://2130706433:5000/) to reach the internal heritage-vault endpoint.

Speakeasy Storage Audit CTF: NTFS Alternate Data Streams

2026-05-22 17:00:00 10 min read

LevelUpCTF Speakeasy Storage Audit forensics writeup: a Gourmet Access Key hidden in an NTFS Alternate Data Stream (ADS) attached to delivery_log.txt, base64-decoded out of a recovered disk metadata dump.

Heritage Keycard CTF: ret2win Through PTY Bad Bytes

2026-05-22 12:00:00 14 min read

LevelUpCTF Heritage Keycard ret2win writeup: 64-byte gets() overflow, x86-64 alignment via ret gadget, and LNEXT-escaping PTY-mangled bytes (0x16, 0x12, 0x1a) through a socat-fronted target.

Silencing Windows 11: SCCM Configuration Item for Disabling Ads and Suggestions

2026-05-19 17:50:51 5 min read

Three PowerShell scripts - detection, remediation, and revert - packaged as an SCCM Configuration Item baseline to suppress Windows 11 ads, bloat notifications, and suggestions via HKCU registry values.

Finally Clean: Silencing Windows 11 Suggestions

thanks

2026-05-19 17:20:10

This registry tweak from the Win11Debloat project is a great way to declutter your desktop. It helped me quickly disable unwanted suggestions in Windows 11.

Read more about it here: Finally Clean: Silencing Windows 11 Suggestions

A Great Resource for Getting Up to Speed Quickly

thanks

2026-05-19 02:04:12

Studying for my Technical license This video provides a clear, concise breakdown of the topic that I found very helpful. It is an excellent resource for anyone looking to master the basics.

Read more about it here: A Great Resource for Getting Up to Speed Quickly

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