Recovered transmission
from CICADA3301
On the 16th of October, the gates of Latveria opened.
The challengers came, and the trials were fought.
Locks were broken. Names were written in the ledger.
This is the record of what they did.
— CICADA3301
TA0002 · Execution — the trials
Beyond the gate lay seven chambers, each a trial of my making. One by one, they were cleared.
Flag formatFlag format: zerosecurectf{…}
01 / 07The Grand Piazza
“A hundred doors, and every one built by a fool.”
Latveria's gates answer to anyone who knocks the right way. Most never learn the knock.
They facedSQL injection · XSS · Auth bypass
02 / 07Prisoners on a Projecting Platform
“No one escapes my prisons. Prove me wrong.”
Beneath Castle Doom, the old cells still hold those who overflowed their welcome.
They facedBuffer overflows · ROP chains · Heap tricks
03 / 07The Giant Wheel
“Every cipher turns. Find the axle.”
Doom's letters travel sealed in ciphers of his own devising. None has been read without his leave.
They facedRSA · Block ciphers · Broken randomness
04 / 07The Staircase with Trophies
“My machines keep their secrets. Climb them backwards.”
No Doombot was built to be copied. Its plans live only in its circuits.
They facedDisassembly · Patching · Obfuscation
05 / 07The Well
“Everything that falls here leaves a trace.”
Nothing vanishes in Latveria. It waits in the dark for someone patient enough to look.
They facedMemory dumps · Packet captures · Steganography
06 / 07The Round Tower
“From my tower I see everything. Now you try.”
Doom's watchers note every face that crosses the border, and every word it leaves behind.
They facedGeolocation · Metadata · Public trails
07 / 07The Pier with a Lamp
“What Doom cannot name, Doom still rules.”
Some trials fit no chamber. Doom keeps them anyway, for those who think sideways.
They facedScripting · Puzzles · Esoteric formats
TA0001 · Initial access — the event
On 16 October 2026, Latveria opened its gates to the finest hackers of the land. Twenty-four hours. One citadel. Breached — by those who could.
TA0005 · Defense evasion — the kingdom's walls
Decree Nº 01
Your story starts at the gates of Latveria.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 02
Defeat his sentinels, Doombots, pets and stranger things, one by one.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 03
Every dialogue, every file, every byte of metadata hides a clue. Connect them.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 04
Ten to fifteen domains: crypto, reverse engineering, network forensics, attacks on AI minds…
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 05
Easter eggs everywhere. Even on this page.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 06
Climb to his throne. Face Doom himself.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 07
Three titles: Doombreaker · Citadel Razer · Ember of Latveria.
By order of Doom · Latveria
Decree Nº 08
Bring yours. Solo or a team of up to three, twenty-four hours, one citadel.
By order of Doom · Latveria
The gates of Latveria stood open. We saw to that.
Inside, a story told in challenges: every flag taken was a step closer to his throne.
TA0043 · Reconnaissance
TA0043 · Reconnaissance
Breached — by those who could.
CICADA3301 · From: inside Latveria · To: every challenger · Eyes only
Doom had sealed his citadel. We had walked its halls, and we knew where the gates gave way. The challengers brought their companies, and we got them inside to face him.
The gates open in— days · —:—:—
By decree of Doom: Citizens of Latveria. We who serve Doom know well the law: there is no way in to the citadel, and none shall seek one. Gather no crowds; keep to your homes and your company small. Those who dare to face Doom will be broken before his gates on the 16th of October, by decree, and forever.
We know the way in. Gather your company. Face Doom. 16th October.
TA0001 · Initial access — the way in
TA0004 · Privilege escalation — the court
Received by Doom · the guests of honour of ZeroSecure CTF 2.0
In the sanctum of his citadel, beneath the dome where no one is received, Doom received his guests of honour. The court knelt; the emperor rose.
TA0043 · Reconnaissance — the grounds
The trials were held in the CSE Block of MVSR Engineering College, Nadergul. The map marks the way the challengers came in, from the gate on Subhedar Malla Reddy Marg.
TA0009 · Collection — the war room
Every team that mustered at Latveria's gates, counted as they came. He watched this screen too.
Through the Google Form · ₹200 per person
Registration: Ended. The count was not published. The gates have closed.
TA0009 · Collection — two sieges
ZeroSecure CTF 1.0 and 2.0 · April and October 2026Two sieges
Twice the gates of Latveria gave way: in April, and again in October. We hung what the challengers did inside his own gallery, where his ancestors used to hang.
TA0042 · Resource development
We have seen his war table. Every house that armed the challengers burns on it in gold — every light the same. His own burns green.
Bracknell51.41° N · 0.75° W
A house of security services and training, for businesses that would rather keep the harm out.
Ahmedabad23.02° N · 72.57° E
A monthly meet-up for India's security researchers, free and open to all since 2015, with chapters across the country.
Dhaka23.81° N · 90.41° E
An ethical hackers' community from Bangladesh, and the hosts of the international KnightCTF and BDSec CTF.
Hyderabad17.39° N · 78.49° E
Makers of CTF challenges and hands-on cyber labs, for learners and the institutions that train them.
The whole table
Move across the map · select a light to open its houseArrow keys pan · + and − zoom · Esc closes a card
A house that backs the next challengers will be lit on his table beside these.Become a sponsor
TA0011 · Command and control — our people inside
Doom's ledgers listed them as loyal servants of Latveria. They answered to us. They built the trials, they held the gates open, and theirs were the first faces the challengers saw inside.
In the deck, the arrow keys move from card to card; resting on a card uncovers its name, and Enter turns it over.
They oversaw the operation from inside the citadel.
02 agents
S.N. Chakri
Supervisor
“Doom sits on the throne. The Regent decides what he sees.”
Arjun T.
Co-Supervisor
“Every order in the citadel passes through the Marshal first.”
Each one held a chamber of the trials.
07 agents
Chaitanya P.
“Announces the trials. Never the answers.”
Aadithya R.
“Watched every gate through the night. None opened without leave.”
Dheeraj P.
“Holds the chambers' keys, and the patience to let you earn them.”
Abhinay N.
“Walked every road into Latveria before the challengers did.”
Srinikesh M.
“Speaks for the club in rooms where Doom's guards stand.”
Lokesh
“Carries word between the chambers faster than the guards can follow.”
Ruchir Vyas
“First through every breach. Holds it open for the rest.”
Eyes and hands in every corner of Latveria.
07 agents
Himaja B.
“Writes down everything the citadel would rather forget.”
Shivani B.
“Lit the way in, then put out the light behind you.”
Shriya P.
“Small enough to slip past the guards; hot enough to start a fire.”
Keerthi D.
“Repeats nothing Doom says. Remembers all of it.”
Vedansh
“Signs Doom's decrees in a hand he never notices.”
Himansh
“What the citadel burned, Cinder kept warm.”
Sahana
“Seen at every gate. Caught at none.”
They counselled the club from behind the lines.
02 agents
Syed Abrar Ahmed
“Saw how the trials would end before the first gate opened.”
Sai Puneeth S.
“Counsels the club in the quiet hours, when the plans are made.”
The college's hand on the operation.
02 agents
Dr. Rajesh H. Kulkarni
HoD, CSE-Allied
“The citadel's halls answer to the Chancellor. So does the club.”
Teja Rentala
Event Faculty Coordinator
“Keeps the trials' laws, so every challenger plays by the same ones.”
They kept the lights on and the gates open.
02 agents
Dr. Sirisha Daggubati
“Keeps the citadel standing while the trials shake its walls.”
Aniketh Ch.
“Sees to every challenger's needs, and to none of Doom's.”
Register on the Google Form until 16 Oct 2026, 10:30 IST, half an hour before the gates open.
Not yet. Registration opens on 13 Oct 2026, 00:00 IST, on the Google Form.
Yes. Registration is open on the Google Form until 16 Oct 2026, 10:30 IST.
Yes, but not for long: registration closes at 16 Oct 2026, 10:30 IST.
No. Registration closed on 16 Oct 2026, 10:30 IST. The gates open on 16 Oct 2026, 11:00 IST.
No. The gates opened on 16 Oct 2026, 11:00 IST, and the trials are under way.
No. This edition ended on 17 Oct 2026. Follow us on Instagram to hear about the next one.
Registration: Ended
—teams registered
Solo, or up to three hackers.
16 OCT 2026, from 11:00 IST (reporting at 10:00 IST), for 24 hours, at the CSE Block, MVSR Engineering College, Hyderabad.
CICADA3301, the cybersecurity club of MVSR Engineering College, as part of Shikhara 2026.
₹200 per person: ₹200 solo, ₹400 for two, ₹600 for three.
On our Instagram and LinkedIn: news of the next edition, and of the workshops and seminars to come.
End of transcript.Not on file?Ask us
TA0006 · Credential access
Doom forged it to keep the challengers out. Our agent found where he hides its keys: inside this very site.
Ward I of III · The Crumb
Our agent left you a crumb. Your browser keeps crumbs for every site it visits: look among this site's cookies.
Open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Option-Command-I on a Mac) and search: its cookies, storage and cache, the page's markup, the console. Each key you find opens a ward and tells you where the next one hides.
The trials are over: these keys win nothing now but the knowing. Crack it for the record.
On a phone? Doom's keys are found at a desk, with a browser's developer tools.
TA0010 · Exfiltration
Every wall has a flaw.
Every lock, a key.
Every mask, a face beneath.
TA0040 · Impact
Signal lost · re-establishing the link
TA0011 · Command and control — our channels
Transmissions
The frequencies Doom never learned to jam. Tune in for what comes next.
Instagram
@cicada3301_mvsr194 followers, 36 posts · 12 following194followers36 posts · 12 following
As of20 Oct 2026
Featured · Reel ·
Open on Instagram ↗
Featured · Reel ·
Open on Instagram ↗
Featured · Reel ·
Open on Instagram ↗
Ch. 01 · Instagram
With our sponsors
Discord
ZeroSecureCTF 2.0 // CICADA330152 members52members
Invitesclosed
LinkedIn
CICADA3301 Cybersecurity Club // MVSRECFollow the club2followersFollow the club
YouTube figures via the YouTube API Services · YouTube Terms of Service