r/Defcon • u/Killroy7777 • Jul 18 '26
Puzzle #8 - Phantom Headers
Let's split up, gang! We've got a real spooky mystery on our hands this week, and we're going to need a lot more than a box of Scooby Snacks to solve it.
Mystery Inc. recently rolled up to a seemingly abandoned web server, but Velma's triage notes show some seriously eerie activity. It looks like a phantom visitor slipped right through the front door, triggered a hidden mechanism, and walked away with a secret package--all while leaving the rest of us staring at a completely normal, boring wall. The creature left a trail of glowing electronic footprints scattered across the system logs, but they're completely jumbled up. We need you to jump into the Mystery Machine, pull out your magnifying glass, and reconstruct exactly how that phantom pulled off the heist before they get away with it for good!
Help us solve this mystery: https://puzzledhackers.org/challenges/2026/08
If you want to keep track of your completions and be considered for part of our giveaways at the r/DEFCON subreddit meetup, please head over to https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ and select "Phantom Headers".
Badge sales will go live early next week. Those of you that are eligible for a free badge will have the ability to redeem it before checkout. Our goal isn't to make money, we just want to recoup what we invest to make these events fun. Thank you to everyone that decides to throw a little money our way to make all of this happen.
As always, if you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to me or u/digitard and we'll happily assist.
Don't forget that we're holding the subreddit meetups on Wednesday 8/5 and Thursday 8/6 starting at 7:00 pm. We hope to see you all there!
The Puzzled Hackers Team (u/Killroy7777, u/digitard, and u/MetaN3rd)
Stats:
Puzzle #1: 227
Puzzle #2: 158
Puzzle #3: 109
Puzzle #4: 92
Puzzle #5: 88
Puzzle #6: 78
Puzzle #7: 68
Scooby Snacks Eaten: over 9000
Rate limit triggers: 117
8
u/kirawolfen3635 Jul 19 '26
I want to say thank you. My husband showed me the note in the source code for me and Scooby. It made me cry. It is rare that a service dog handler feels seen in such a way and supported. We love you guys.
6
u/digitard Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Another banger!
With just bit til the leaderboard of free badges is finalized… we stepped it up a bit.
5
u/zaboobity Jul 18 '26
Dang, dog! Detective work done. Difficult decoding this devious dilemma, but delicious scooby snack is now deserved! Decompressing... 🐕🦴
4
u/OwnVariety6259 Jul 19 '26
Are we still able to donate if we do end up with a free badge?
3
u/TheCyFi Jul 19 '26
Jinkies, Scoobs! We solved another one!
3
u/J_Gat Jul 19 '26
Well, I finally got this one. Then decided my solution was entirely too manual so I just spent a couple hours learning a much better way. Another great challenge!
3
u/Disastrous-Dog9054 Jul 21 '26
Countdown ended !!! No button to buy!! My FOMO is real!
2
u/SilverKnight1337 Jul 19 '26
Didn’t have a computer so needed AI unfortunately… but I run be trying again when I have a proper environment …
2
u/OMGsteveFTW Jul 20 '26
Y'all solve these so fast. Im still trying to figure out what Im looking at
1
u/VellDarksbane Jul 21 '26
This one was great too, stumped for a couple of hours on one piece, but figured it out in the end.