OverTheWire Bandit Levels 0–10 Walkthrough

Introduction

OverTheWire Bandit is a beginner-friendly cybersecurity wargame that teaches Linux command-line basics. In this walkthrough, I explain how I solved Bandit Levels 0–10 using simple commands and easy explanations.

Level 0

Objective

Connect to the Bandit server using SSH.

Command Used

ssh bandit0@bandit.labs.overthewire.org -p 2220

Explanation

I used SSH to connect to the remote Bandit server using the provided username and port.

Result

Successfully logged into the Bandit server.

Level 0 → Level 1

Objective

Read the password stored in the readme file.

Commands Used

ls

cat readme

Explanation

I listed the files and displayed the contents of the readme file.

Result

Retrieved the password for the next level.

Level 1 → Level 2

Objective

Read a file named "-".

Command Used

cat ./-

Explanation

The dash (-) is treated as an option by Linux, so I used "./-" to access it as a filename.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 2 → Level 3

Objective

Read a file with spaces in its name.

Command Used

cat "spaces in this filename"

Explanation

Quotation marks allow Linux to treat the entire filename as one argument.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 3 → Level 4

Objective

Find the hidden file inside the inhere directory.

Commands Used

cd inhere

ls -la

cat .hidden

Explanation

I displayed hidden files using ls -la and opened the hidden file.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 4 → Level 5

Objective

Find the only human-readable file.

Commands Used

cd inhere

file ./*

cat filename

Explanation

The file command identifies the type of each file, helping me locate the readable one.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 5 → Level 6

Objective

Find the file with the required size and permissions.

Command Used

find . -type f -size 1033c ! -executable

Explanation

The find command searches files matching the required conditions.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 6 → Level 7

Objective

Find the file owned by the specified user and group.

Command Used

find / -user bandit7 -group bandit6 -size 33c 2>/dev/null

Explanation

The search was performed across the system while hiding permission errors.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 7 → Level 8

Objective

Find the password beside the word millionth.

Command Used

grep millionth data.txt

Explanation

The grep command searches text files for a specific keyword.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 8 → Level 9

Objective

Find the unique line in the file.

Command Used

sort data.txt | uniq -u

Explanation

The file was sorted first so that uniq -u could identify the unique line.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Level 9 → Level 10

Objective

Find the password hidden inside readable strings.

Command Used

strings data.txt | grep ==

Explanation

The strings command extracts readable text from a binary file, and grep searches for the required pattern.

Result

Retrieved the next password.

Conclusion

Completing Bandit Levels 0–10 improved my understanding of Linux fundamentals, including SSH, file handling, searching, permissions, hidden files, and text-processing commands. These skills provide a strong foundation for cybersecurity and penetration testing.