OverTheWire Bandit Level 9 → 10 tutorial!!

Login

Log in as bandit9 using the password you just obtained from Level 8 → 9.

ssh bandit9@bandit.labs.overthewire.org -p 2220
# password: 4CKMh1JI91bUIZZPXDqGanal4xvAg0JM

Why? Each Bandit level is a separate UNIX user. To solve 9 → 10, you must be the bandit9 user.

Task

The password for the next level is stored in data.txt and appears as a human-readable string preceded by several = characters.

A little bit of Theory

• strings extracts printable (ASCII) sequences from a (possibly) binary file.

  • Minimum length: -n 4 (often default).
  • Show offsets (optional): -t x (hex) or -t d (decimal).

• grep filters lines by pattern.

  • Regex for three-or-more equals signs: -E '={3,}'

• Pipe strings → grep to cut noise fast.

Further reading:

• strings manual
• grep manual
• Piping and Redirection

Solution

1. Confirm the file is present

   ls -l
   

   Why? Sanity check that data.txt exists and you’re in the right place.

1. Extract printable strings and look for ===

   strings data.txt | grep -E '={3,}'
   # or, slightly stricter to capture the token after the equals:
   strings data.txt | grep -E '={3,}[A-Za-z0-9+/=]{8,}'
   

   Why? strings surfaces human-readable chunks; grep narrows to the few lines preceded by equals signs.

1. (Optional) Show offsets

   strings -t x data.txt | grep -E '={3,}'
   

   Why? Offsets help you verify where the readable text sits inside the file (not required to solve).

2. Copy the password (no extra spaces/newlines).

3. Log into the next level (bandit10)

   exit
   ssh bandit10@bandit.labs.overthewire.org -p 2220
   # paste the password you just found when prompted
   

Password

This is the password shown in my run; if yours differs, copy the one from your own terminal output.

FGUW5ilLVJrxX9kMYMmlN4MgbpfMiqey

Troubleshooting

• Too much output from strings? → Add the filter: grep -E '={3,}'.
• Still nothing? → Try the looser grep '===' (regex flavors differ slightly).
• Odd characters? → Force C locale: LC_ALL=C strings data.txt | grep '==='.

Congrats 🎉 You carved the hidden text out of a binary and can now play as bandit10.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time — Otsumachi!! 💖☄️✨