TryHackMe — TakeOver Writeup

Challenge Overview

Platform: TryHackMe Challenge: TakeOver Category: Web / Subdomain Enumeration

The description hints at subdomain enumeration — that's basically handing you the attack path. Let's go.

Step 1 — Add Host Entry

Add the target domain and IP to /etc/hosts so the lab resolves:

echo "10.49.189.165 futurevera.thm" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

Step 2 — Nmap Scan

nmap -sV -sC 10.49.189.165

Output:

PORT    STATE SERVICE  VERSION
22/tcp  open  ssh      OpenSSH 8.2p1 Ubuntu
80/tcp  open  http     Apache httpd 2.4.41
443/tcp open  ssl/http Apache httpd 2.4.41

Port 80 redirects to https://futurevera.thm. SSL cert on 443 shows commonName=futurevera.thm. Nothing too exciting yet.

Step 3 — Subdomain Enumeration

The room description says there are subdomains — let's find them with gobuster:

gobuster vhost \
  -w /usr/share/seclists/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-5000.txt \
  -u futurevera.thm \
  -t 50 \
  --append-domain

Got hits. Add them all to /etc/hosts:

echo "10.49.189.165 portal.futurevera.thm" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
echo "10.49.189.165 blog.futurevera.thm" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
echo "10.49.189.165 support.futurevera.thm" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

Step 4 — SSL Certificate Inspection

portal and blog are dead ends. support.futurevera.thm looks empty too — but check the SSL certificate.

Visit https://support.futurevera.thm in the browser, click the padlock → view certificate → check the Subject Alternative Names.

There it is:

secrethelpdesk934752.support.futurevera.thm

Hidden subdomain embedded in the cert. Classic.

Step 5 — Get the Flag

Add it to /etc/hosts:

echo "10.49.189.165 secrethelpdesk934752.support.futurevera.thm" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

Visit it on port 80:

http://secrethelpdesk934752.support.futurevera.thm

Flag.

Key Takeaway

SSL certificates are recon goldmines. SANs (Subject Alternative Names) often list internal subdomains, staging environments, and hidden endpoints that never show up in DNS brute-forcing. Always check the cert.

*— 0xAdham *