Lost [N00bz CTF 2023]

Description

I got lost. Help me find out where I am. Flag format is n00bz{Name_Of_Pin_On_Google_Maps}.

Author: Spectral

Solution

First of all, let’s open the image where.png which is given by the challenge. We can see a bridge and a city in the background and the image seems to have a filter on it because the red and purple colors are more present than the others. Furthermore, some elements of the image are duplicated (same effect as beeing drunk).

Second reflex to have is to check the metadata of the image with exiftool. Exiftool tell us the location of the image is San Fransisco, by having this information we can now try to identify the bridges by using Google Maps: we see it’s the Oakland Bay Bridge because of structure, the island on the left and the color of the bridge.

By using the orientation of the picture and the relief let’s check for a similar spot with a view on a straight road until a “pier”:

It should be around this place and after a few researches we found it: Vallejo Steps.

The flag is n00bz{Vallejo_Steps}.