Challenge

Overview

The plugin introduces a new challenge type called dynamic_iac, allowing the deployment of instances per user or team (referred to as a source). It works seamlessly with both user modes defined by CTFd (individual users or teams).

What’s new about this challenge type?

To get started, navigate to the challenge creation panel in CTFd and select the dynamic_iac challenge type.

Here’s what the plugin adds:

Global Scope

The global scope is a boolean setting that allows a single instance to be shared among all players.

For instance, in the following setup, challenges 1, 2, and 3 have the global scope enabled, while challenge 4 does not:

In this scenario, player X (yellow) and player Y (blue) will each have their own instances for challenge 4, but will share the same instance for challenges 1, 2, and 3. We recommend enabling this feature for static, stateless applications (e.g., websites).

Mana Cost

The mana cost is an integer representing the price users must pay in mana to deploy their own instance. Mana is refunded when the instance is destroyed. This system helps control the impact users have on the platform. For more details, see how mana works.

Until

The until setting allows you to specify a date and time at which instances will be automatically destroyed by the Janitor.

Example:
As a CTF administrator running a week-long event, you want a challenge available only on the first day. Set the Janitoring Strategy to Until, and configure the end date to DD/MM/YYYY 23:59.

As a player, you can start your instance anytime before this date and destroy it whenever you like before the deadline.

Timeout

The timeout is an integer that specifies, in seconds, how long after starting an instance the Janitor will automatically destroy it.

Example:
As a CTF administrator or challenge creator, you estimate that your challenge takes about 30 minutes to solve. Set the Janitoring Strategy to Timeout and set the value to 1800 seconds (30 minutes).

As a player, once you start your instance, it will be destroyed after 30 minutes unless renewed. You can also manually destroy the instance at any time to reclaim your mana.

Scenario Archive

The scenario is a zip archive defining the challenge deployment as a Golang Pulumi project. You can use examples or create your own using the SDK and Pulumi.