The ROLE OF CAPTURE-THE-FLAG (CTF) CHALLENGES IN CYBERSECURITY RESEARCH AND TRAINING: ANALYSIS OF THE "EDITORIAL" MACHINE

Cybersecurity threats c­ontinue to evolve, requiring continuous improvements in training methodologies. Traditional theoretical education in cybersecurity often lacks practical engagement, leading to a skills gap in real-world security operations. Capture-the-Flag (CTF) challenges have emerged as an effective method for developing critical cybersecurity skills, offering participants a hands-on approach to penetration testing, network security, and privilege escalation techniques. This study explores the educational value of CTF challenges by analyzing the "Editorial" machine from the Hack The Box platform. The article provides a structured walkthrough, detailing key phases such as reconnaissance, exploitation, and privilege escalation. The exploitation phase demonstrates the identification of SQL injection vulnerabilities, while the privilege escalation phase highlights the risks of misconfigured Git repositories and sudo permissions. A scientific analysis of these vulnerabilities is presented, emphasizing their implications for real-world cybersecurity threats. The study also includes defensive strategies to mitigate such risks, advocating for secure coding practices, privilege ma