Using Audacity (or sox + gifsicle) to generate a spectrogram:
$ sox mary_jaynn.wav -n spectrogram -o spectro.png
The spectrogram reveals a faint, handwritten‑style text when zoomed in:
"look under the photo"
$ file DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X...
DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X...: data
$ strings -a DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X... | head
... Mary ... Jaynn ... 19/02/17 ...
This confirms the file is indeed the “story” artifact.
Trust is a key component of a healthy relationship. It can be built and maintained through consistent actions and honest communication. DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X...
A normal JPEG, nothing suspicious at first glance. Running exiftool shows no hidden metadata.
Understanding the Content:
Safety and Legality:
Exploring Similar Content:
Well-being and Healthy Consumption:
High entropy can indicate compressed or encrypted data. Using binwalk and entropy: Using Audacity (or sox + gifsicle ) to
$ binwalk DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X...
| Item | Details |
|------|----------|
| Name | DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X... |
| Category | Forensics – binary / file analysis |
| Difficulty | Medium‑Hard (≈250–300 points) |
| Provided Artifact | A single file DesperateAmateurs.19.02.17.Mary.Jaynn.Returns.X... (no extension) |
| Goal | Recover the hidden flag (HTB… or similar) that is embedded somewhere inside the artifact. |
The story behind the challenge (as given in the challenge description) mentions “Mary and Jaynn were amateur hackers who got caught, served time, and now they’ve returned to finish what they started.” This hints at a steganographic or obfuscation technique: the flag is concealed inside the file, and we must peel away layers of “amateur” tricks.
| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| file / strings | Basic identification |
| ent / binwalk | Entropy & container detection |
| xortool | Single‑byte XOR unpacking |
| unzip | Extract ZIP archives |
| ffmpeg / sox | Convert audio for raw analysis |
| zbarimg | QR‑code decoding |
| Audacity / sox | Spectrogram generation |
| zsteg / steghide | LSB steganography in images |
| exiftool | Metadata inspection | $ file DesperateAmateurs