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BYUCTF 2025 - WriteUp

BYUCTF 2025 - WriteUp

lataeq lataeq
May 17, 2025
3 min read
CTF WriteUp
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Challenge: Skywim (OSINT)

Description: One time I tried to take a screenshot of my Skyrim character next to my favorite NPC (who doesn’t love goth girls). I decided to AFK for a second to heat up some soup. Unfortunately, there were some unexpected enemies up here, and I died. My last save was like 4 hours before this picture was taken, and I never remembered where I captured this beautiful sight. Can you help me find the name of the location where this picture was taken in Skyrim?

🏁 Flag format: byuctf{Shrine_of_Stendarr}`

This is a real, named location in Skyrim. You do not need to own or play the game to solve this challenge, though it could be helpful. Given Image

🛠 Tools Used

🔍 Step 1: Looking at the Image

The first thing I did was look closely at the challenge image. The first object that caught my eye was a big ship. I thought this might help me figure out where the picture was taken in the game. ship

🗺️ Step 2: Searching the Map

I went to https://mapgenie.io/skyrim/maps/skyrim, which is an interactive map of Skyrim. I looked around the map for places that had ships.

I found one location that had a big ship and two smaller ships next to it — just like in the challenge image. This made me pretty sure I had found the right place.

shipcon

🧭 Step 3: Checking the Direction

Next, I looked at the in-game compass in the challenge image. It showed that the player was facing east. This helped me figure out which way the player was looking in the image.

Google Maps Results

🌉 Step 4: Spotting a Bridge

I also noticed there was a bridge in the image. So I went back to the map and searched for bridges near the ship location. I found two possible spots where the player could be standing and still see both the ship and the bridge. its either be Dragon Bridge Overlook or Dragon Bridge.

location

🧠 Step 5: Trying the Flag

Now that I had a good guess about where the player was standing, I tried putting the location name in the flag format. I guessed:

Terminal window
byuctf{Dragon_Bridge_Overlook}

And it was correct on the first try!

🏁 Flag

Terminal window
byuctf{Dragon_Bridge_Overlook}

Challenge: Universal-ty (OSINT)

Description: When Cameron Snider was in high school, he took a day trip to visit a university he was interested in attending. He would have gone here if he didn’t go to BYU.
What school did he visit?

🏁 Flag format: byuctf{Name_of_University}

Given Image

🛠 Tools Used

  • Google Lense

🔍 Step 1: Visual Clue Isolation

Instead of reverse searching the whole image, I cropped a section to focus specifically on the unique building visible in the photo. This improved the accuracy of the search results. I uploaded the cropped selection to Google Lens. Google Lense Results

🌎 Step 2: Search Result and Site Verification

The most promising result was a page on a university’s official website discussing a park area, and it included the exact same building from the photo.

The site belonged to University of Notre Dame, and the article featured photos clearly showing the same structure and surroundings.

Google Lense Results

https://news.nd.edu/news/notre-dame-to-dedicate-irish-green-on-oct-2/

🗺 Step 3: Full Site Confirmation

To confirm beyond doubt, I opened the full university webpage about the park. The buildings, layout, and landscape all matched the original photo. No metadata or coordinates were needed — just visual confirmation.

Google Maps Results

🏁 Flag

Terminal window
byuctf{University_of_Notre_Dame}