Challenge description

Bandit is a beginner wargame hosted by OverTheWire: each level is an SSH server you log into with a password found in the previous level. Level 0 gives you the starting credentials directly.

Step 1 — Connect over SSH

The challenge page gives you a hostname, port, username, and password directly — there's nothing to find yet, just log in:

ssh bandit0@bandit.labs.overthewire.org -p 2220
# password: bandit0

Step 2 — List the home directory

Once logged in, list what's in the home directory:

ls

readme

Step 3 — Read the file

A single file called readme is sitting there. Read it:

cat readme

[PASSWORD FOR bandit1]

The password is deliberately hidden — follow the method, you've earned it. 💪

Key takeaways

Bandit's whole structure boils down to this loop: log in, look around, read something, get the next password. ls and cat are the two commands you'll use most in the entire game.

• Always start a new level with ls — see what you're working with before doing anything else
• cat prints a file's contents straight to the terminal
• Every level's password unlocks the SSH login for the next level

Resources

• OverTheWire Bandit
• GNU Coreutils — ls
• GNU Coreutils — cat

Related reading

Misc 2026-09-24

OverTheWire Bandit Level 1 Writeup — Read a File Named -

A file literally named - breaks a naive cat command. How to reference it directly and read the password inside.