OverTheWire Bandit Level 0 → 1

Goal

The password for the next level is stored in a file called readme located in the home directory.

Setup

The first level is your introduction to SSH on a known port (2220) and the OverTheWire game flow: every level gives you the credential for the next one as its "flag".

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

Password: bandit0.

Solve

$ ls
readme
$ cat readme
ZjLjTmM6FvvyRnrb2rfNWOZOTa6ip5If

The password printed is the credential for bandit1.

Takeaway

The Bandit series teaches Unix one level at a time. Even at level 0 the pattern is set: connect, list, look. Get used to that loop — by level 10 the file names will be hostile and you'll need every trick find, xxd, strings, and grep give you.