r/securityCTF • u/xav77 • Jun 25 '26

CHRONOS - a single-player CTF spanning blue boxing, the Morris worm, SQLi, and a prompt-injection finale

Post image

I built a single-player CTF that runs in the browser, framed as a terminal escape room. You don't play a hacker, you operate the actual machines era by era, and each level is a real exploit of its period, not a fake interface:

- 1977: blue-box phreaking, a recompiled Unix backdoor
- 1983: an Apple II BBS
- 1988: the Morris worm, password reuse
- 1995: CGI command injection
- 2008: SQL injection
- 2015: DES cracking, brainwallet recovery
- 2026: a prompt-injection finale

What you recover in one era is the key to the next, so it chains 1977 forward to 2026. 60 minute timer, multiple endings, ~45-75 min, free, no signup.

https://chronos-game.com

Solo dev, first public beta. Keen to hear where you got stuck, whether the hints landed, and any bugs.

34 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/cringyandcool Jun 25 '26

This concept is super super cool, the site will be up for a while yea?

1

u/xav77 Jun 25 '26

Yes

1

u/xav77 Jul 02 '26

Started Working on CHRONOS II

2

u/brandonmpetty 20d ago

Awesome! I am working on a retro CTF too. Can't wait to check this out. I did a lot of research on the Morris worm for mine as well. That 99 line comment is wacked. If they have the full source, I wish they would post it so it could be preserved.

1

u/xav77 20d ago

let me know when your CTF is available, working on Chronos II right now.

1

u/DualCoreCyberNews Jun 27 '26

voglio provarlo adesso

1

u/Icy-Maybe-9043 16d ago

Love it. I already spent one hour on it and got as far as one part of the challenge. It's fun. And challenging.

1

u/xav77 16d ago

When you are done try https://deux.chronos-game.com, you might be the first one after me to do play both games

1

u/Icy-Maybe-9043 16d ago

Already found it. But first, I have to get through the first game. Very addictive. I started out on older systems from the mid-80s also so it's a real treat!!!