Merry Christmas 2024 - hashpwn Wordlist Challenge

[cyclone]

Ho Ho... oh, no! Santa's Workshop is in trouble! It seems the download link for the hashpwn wordlist has been cleverly scrambled, and right before Christmas! Who would do such a thing? What a mischievous Grinch!

Luckily, it appears the Grinch left a few clues to follow. Time to put your thinking caps on!

Step 1 - Hashes:
by keeping the original order of these hashes, you'll reveal what to do next

e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855
a3b142af6e97cfc3bb23e409ab83467af7d16ded7dc0632be6a6a9023e49ce8b
c0a76c5ca97bce57d556a29475277e034cff23af95147427d963262dda0ed800
9bfa0b50a90e669907e78780bcc1e5e972742e0d124b30a67fbeb6371c604891
663ea1bfffe5038f3f0cf667f14c4257eff52d77ce7f2a218f72e9286616ea39
e6640de835ad09fb0a7367ee2e0ba99d0142c139db0272146e35538bd07479fc
b9776d7ddf459c9ad5b0e1d6ac61e27befb5e99fd62446677600d7cacef544d0
e8cbf88eeadc69f74c63bb3f0d5854c27edef862bf2aea5d3882dd8d14c4a1f2
3d1a82560169c2bbcd369a8c3c8a9207d59c7a8c3b7670a78dceb3d678380d15
5e884898da28047151d0e56f8dc6292773603d0d6aabbdd62a11ef721d1542d8
8fd3789a35780884e67ad076288b0d1758dcbd361733ff9d934f9fc029e4d3f7
3aeb002460381c6f258e8395d3026f571f0d9a76488dcd837639b13aed316560
8a5edab282632443219e051e4ade2d1d5bbc671c781051bf1437897cbdfea0f1
2c45b07e2cb36de2fe0cc144d11ae2db2ff314d8efa46cb28c279606f54ce4c5
1d852dd5d67ed24317620fb1ef5257cc3952395ecb1627bf040f8fc1856d1b49

Step 2 - hashpwn Wordlist Download link:
only attempt this after cracking at least a dozen of the hints above!

• download_link.zip

Notes:

• While the plaintext in this challenge are not "Christmas themed", the challenge and wordlist is a Christmas present from me to the hashpwn community
• New hints will be dropped periodically until the final answer is revealed on Christmas Day
• If anyone would like to post their progress, feel free to post a link on https://paste.hashpwn.net

Hints:

1. An elf told me those hashes looked like...

Spoiler

sha256

2. Someone was able to crack a few hashes using the following plaintexts...

Spoiler

github.com
cyclone-github
spider

3. download_link.zip hash:

Spoiler

$zip2$*0*1*0*5ae1707141474c26*cc45*74*7cc15c71ad2d38964f1259af273b1a7f106a88007c7e901a15e893421da58f57d17561eca1970bd633d423647beebaab964701f71b624a6d958be8916e4ae99067a8dc8819814a7ac5a131b44b69edb0c023a8dafc58cb3422e8f495bf653be043127bcedc9cea8b6c39ae2d5242611008c87f7e*79ec78301e125d5f9c62*$/zip2$

4. The elves have been hard at work trying to decode this HEX string. I hear rehex and hashgen can convert these back to plaintext.

Spoiler

https://github.com/Cynosureprime/rling
https://github.com/cyclone-github/hashgen
$HEX[68747470733a2f2f666f72756d2e6861736870776e2e6e65742f706f73742f3638]

5. Hard work pays off! Here's the dehexed string. But, is this a...

Spoiler

https://forum.hashpwn.net/post/68

6. 'Twas the night before Christmas, on hashpwn's site...

Spoiler

'Twas the night before Christmas, on hashpwn's site,
The forum was fueled by coffee all night.
As the wordlist drew nearer, one puzzle away,
All crackers pressed on, determined to stay.
Hints had been posted, the challenge laid bare,
One final quest, Exclusive or — but where?

[oe3p32wedw]

Looks like Cyclone Claus has decided to make Christmas even more interesting! I'll start:

[secret hints redacted]

Spoiler

e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855:
a3b142af6e97cfc3bb23e409ab83467af7d16ded7dc0632be6a6a9023e49ce8b:use
c0a76c5ca97bce57d556a29475277e034cff23af95147427d963262dda0ed800:cyclone's
5e884898da28047151d0e56f8dc6292773603d0d6aabbdd62a11ef721d1542d8:password
663ea1bfffe5038f3f0cf667f14c4257eff52d77ce7f2a218f72e9286616ea39:to
e6640de835ad09fb0a7367ee2e0ba99d0142c139db0272146e35538bd07479fc:find
b9776d7ddf459c9ad5b0e1d6ac61e27befb5e99fd62446677600d7cacef544d0:the
e8cbf88eeadc69f74c63bb3f0d5854c27edef862bf2aea5d3882dd8d14c4a1f2:hashpwn
3d1a82560169c2bbcd369a8c3c8a9207d59c7a8c3b7670a78dceb3d678380d15:wordlist
8fd3789a35780884e67ad076288b0d1758dcbd361733ff9d934f9fc029e4d3f7:$HEX[68696e74733a] (hints:)
3aeb002460381c6f258e8395d3026f571f0d9a76488dcd837639b13aed316560:github.com
8a5edab282632443219e051e4ade2d1d5bbc671c781051bf1437897cbdfea0f1:/
9bfa0b50a90e669907e78780bcc1e5e972742e0d124b30a67fbeb6371c604891:spider

I'll start adding more tips now

[cyclone]

@oe3p32wedw Looks like you're doing great! Let's keep the hints you found a secret so we don't spoil it for anyone else playing along!

If anyone would like to post their progress, feel free to post a link on https://paste.hashpwn.net

[v1cvap0r]

One left for me [removed expired url]

[oe3p32wedw]

I've found interesting link But Idk what the password is... Am I on the right way? @cyclone

[cyclone]

@oe3p32wedw
DM sent.

[cyclone]

A new hint (#1) and a few notations were made to the OP.

[oe3p32wedw]

It was fun! Thanks for your hard work, @cyclone
May the coming year bring you all success and happiness!

[cyclone]

@oe3p32wedw Great job! Thanks, you as well.

[cyclone]

Congrats to those who have completed the challenge so far!

New hint (#2) dropped for those still working on the challenge.

[cyclone]

New hint (#3) dropped for download_link.zip.

[alivala]

It was a fun challenge, thank you very much for it!

[cyclone]

@alivala Thanks for the feedback; glad you enjoyed the challenge!

[cyclone]

We're up to 9 users who have completed the challenge. Who will be next?

New hint (#4) dropped.

[ivan]

@cyclone Thank you so much for the interesting quest, the main problem is poor English language skills.

[cyclone]

@ivan Great job completing the challenge! Enjoy the hashpwn wordlist.

[cyclone]

New hint (#5) dropped.

[cyclone]

Congrats to the 11 users who have completed the challenge so far!

The final clue was posted (#6).

[cyclone]

Merry Christmas to all those who played along, and congrats to the 14 users who successfully completed the challenge and downloaded the hashpwn wordlist.

hashpwn wordlist download link:
https://forum.hashpwn.net/post/237

[casper_]

I was stuck here and couldn't get any further. Thanks for the the challenge

"This looks like XOR to me...
iuuqr;..fnghmd/hn.e.343c`5de,4d4`,5903,`176,d89`17g8c53d"