Yukthi CTF Rulebook

This document defines the rules, scoring, conduct, and procedures for the Tamil Nadu Police x Selfmade Ninja Labs Capture the Flag (CTF). All participants must read and agree to these rules before playing.

1. Event Structure

• Rounds:
  • Prelims – 24 hours
  • Finals – 36 hours
• Both rounds run on the same platform, using the same challenge deployment, VPN, and scoring mechanics.
• Top 25 teams from Prelims qualify for Finals.

2. Teams & Eligibility

• Team Size: 2–4 members.
• The same team must play both Prelims and Finals; no member changes allowed after Prelims.
• At least 2 members must be active during the Finals.
• Age: Open to all. Participants under 13 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian during Finals.

3. Allowed & Prohibited Actions

3.1 Allowed

• Use of standard cybersecurity tools (e.g., nmap, Burp Suite, Wireshark, etc.).
• Writing and running your own scripts and automation.
• Team-internal communication via chat, voice, or other tools.
• Use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT) for non-solution tasks (note-taking, explanation, formatting), but not for directly solving challenges.

3.2 Prohibited (Disqualification)

• Attacking or disrupting the CTF platform or VPN infrastructure.
• Any form of DDoS or network flooding.
• Targeting other teams' resources or environments.
• Sharing flags, solutions, or writeups during the event.
• Using external mentors, "friends helping", or paid solvers.
• Using AI tools to directly solve challenges.
• Abusing platform vulnerabilities (out-of-scope exploitation).
• Automated brute-force of flag submission endpoints.

4. Challenges & Environment

• Participants access challenges via the Selfmade Ninja Labs CTF portal.
• VPN access is required to reach challenge environments.
• Challenges must be deployed manually by teams; each deployment starts a countdown timer.
• If the lab times out before solving, the challenge instance is terminated and it counts as a failed attempt.
• Flags are dynamic and unique per team.

5. What Is an Attempt?

An attempt is any meaningful try at a challenge. The following events count as attempts:

• Submitting a wrong flag (failed attempt).
• Allowing the challenge lab to time out after deployment (failed attempt).
• Submitting the correct flag (successful attempt).

Rewards are granted only once per challenge per team. After a successful completion, replaying the challenge does not yield additional rewards, and further failures on that challenge do not affect scoring.

6. Scoring – Zeal, Jolts & Multipliers

6.1 Zeal (Primary Score)

Every challenge has an Original Zeal value (e.g., 385). Final points are calculated based on a multiplier and any Jolt penalties.

6.2 First Attempt Bonus

If a challenge is solved on the first attempt without using hints, the team receives a 1.5× multiplier on the Original Zeal, resulting in the maximum possible reward for that challenge.

6.3 Multiplier Decay by Attempts

Each failed attempt reduces the multiplier by 25% of its previous value. The typical progression is:

6.4 Jolts (Secondary Currency)

Jolts are a secondary in-game currency earned by solving challenges and completing achievements. Jolts can be used to unlock hints, extend challenge time, and perform other utility actions (subject to platform features).

Jolt Penalty: Every Jolt spent reduces the Original Zeal by 0.5%.

Example: If Original Zeal is 385 and 2 Jolts are spent, the penalty is 1%, resulting in an adjusted Zeal of 381.15. Final reward = adjusted Zeal × multiplier.

6.5 Example Reward Table (385 Zeal, 0 Jolts)

6.6 Achievements

Teams may earn additional Zeal and Jolts from achievements such as solving within a specific time, solving without hints, first-attempt solves, and other platform-defined objectives.

7. Tie-Breaking Rules

If two or more teams finish with the same total score, the following tiebreakers apply in order:

1. Team with the faster total solve time wins.
2. If still tied, the team that reached its final score earlier (based on scoreboard history) wins.

8. Support & Disputes

8.1 Support

• Preferred: On-platform ticketing system.
• Email: support@yukthictf.com

Target response time is 2 minutes for acknowledgement and 30–40 minutes for resolution.

8.2 Disputes

• Only technical disputes (deployment issues, flag validation errors, platform scoring bugs) will be considered.
• Evidence (logs, screenshots, timestamps) must be submitted within 5 hours after the event ends.
• Decisions by the Selfmade Ninja Labs platform team are final and binding.

9. Organizer Rights

Tamil Nadu Police and Selfmade Ninja Labs reserve the right to:

• Disqualify any participant or team for rule violations or misconduct.
• Modify or update rules at any time.
• Add, remove, or patch challenges as needed.
• Pause, extend, or restart the event due to technical issues.
• Remove teams attacking infrastructure or causing disruption.

10. Certificates & Rewards

• All participants receive certificates.
• Winners receive cash prizes.
• Internships may be offered based on company requirements.
• Swag kits will be provided.

11. Conduct

Participants must maintain professional behavior. Harassment, abuse, or discriminatory behavior towards other participants or organizers is not tolerated and may result in immediate removal from the event.

By registering and participating in this CTF, you agree to comply with all the rules and decisions outlined here.