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CASE FILE / ARCHIVED CTF / 001

OFFLINE SOLVE · DOWNUNDERCTF 2024

Shufflebox.

Two known rows expose a hidden permutation. Invert it once, recover the censored input, then prove the answer by running every row forward again.

FIELD Beginner cryptoARTIFACT 16 positions × 3 rowsSTATUS Reproduced offline

The order was the only secret.

The organizer's program shuffles input positions. It uses the same 16-position order for three rows and leaves each character unchanged.

  1. Label each source index. In the first known input, four-character blocks identify its group. In the second, repeating abcd identifies the position in that group.
  2. Read the outputs together. Each pair of output characters matches exactly one pair in the two known inputs, revealing all 16 source indices.
  3. Invert the third row. Put each character from the censored output back at its recovered source index.
  4. Check forward. Reapply the recovered order to the two known inputs and recovered third input. All three outputs must match the handout byte for byte.

One answer.
Three exact checks.

Restoring the third input yields a 16-character phrase. The organizer's archived answer confirms the same value.

DUCTF{udiditgjwowsuper}

Historical challenge answer. No platform submission, rank, or prize is claimed.

  • Known row A re-encodes exactly
  • Known row B re-encodes exactly
  • Recovered row re-encodes exactly
  • Organizer archive confirms the flag