Fansadox 617 Evil Elves 2 Hawkepdf

CTF Write‑up – Fansadox 617 – “Evil Elves 2” (HawkePDF)

Challenge type: Forensic / PDF steganography
Difficulty: Medium – 617 points (CTF‑style rating)
Goal: Retrieve the hidden flag from the supplied PDF file. fansadox 617 evil elves 2 hawkepdf

2.9. Locate the zip file

The secret.txt we extracted earlier is actually a zip (binary masquerading as text). Verify: CTF Write‑up – Fansadox 617 – “Evil Elves

file secret.txt
# => Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract

Rename for clarity:

mv secret.txt elves.zip

Main Characters

  • Hawk — Protagonist; primary playable character. Stealth and combat-focused.
  • Elven Antagonists — Various named and generic enemy elves with differing behaviors.
  • Allies / NPCs — Support characters offering quests, items, or branching dialogue.

4. Lessons & Techniques

  1. HawkePDF toolbox (pdfid.py, pdf-parser.py, pdfdetach) is perfect for rapid PDF forensics.
  2. Embedded files are often compressed or archived – always check for FlateDecode, LZWDecode, etc.
  3. JavaScript inside PDFs is a frequent place to hide passwords or clues. Extract it as raw text and read it carefully.
  4. README files packaged with payloads usually give a narrative hint (the “story” part of CTF challenges).
  5. Password‑protected archives: the password is frequently a word/phrase that appears elsewhere in the challenge (metadata, hidden text, comments).

2.5. Extract the embedded file

pdfdetach (bundled with poppler-utils) is the easiest way: elves are often depicted as graceful

pdfdetach -save -o ./extracted_embedded.bin evil_elves_2.pdf

Now we have a raw binary (extracted_embedded.bin). Its size is ~1 KB, which suggests it is compressed.

Controls & Interface

  • Mouse-driven point-and-click navigation.
  • Inventory panel: quick-use items, keys, potions.
  • Dialogue choices shown as clickable options; choices affect relationships and endings.

The Concept of Evil Elves

In fantasy literature and art, elves are often depicted as graceful, elegant beings with a deep connection to nature and magic. However, the concept of "evil elves" offers a fascinating twist on traditional elven lore, allowing creators to explore darker themes and character dynamics.