Concept
SSH Private Key Authentication (Identity Files). This level requires moving the key to a local environment because the server blocks internal jumps via localhost.
Key Commands
scp -P 2220: Downloads files from the server to the local machine.ssh -i: Logs in using an identity file instead of a password.- Windows GUI (Security): Managing NTFS permissions (Disabling inheritance).
Walkthrough
scp -P 2220 bandit13@bandit.labs.overthewire.org:/home/bandit13/sshkey.private .
I downloaded sshkey.private using scp. Since Windows doesn’t handle chmod like Linux, I used the Properties > Security GUI to disable inheritance and grant “Read” permissions only to my user. Then, I connected to bandit14@bandit.labs.overthewire.org on port 2220.
Key Takeaways
I learned that SSH rejects “exposed” keys (those with shared permissions). In Windows, this is fixed by breaking permission inheritance in the GUI to ensure the file is private.
Pass 14
MU4VWeTyJk8ROof1qqmcBPaLh7lDCPvS