Challenge description

Level 4's inhere directory contains around ten files with near-identical names (like -file00 through -file09). Only one is a plain text file — the rest are decoys with random binary data.

Step 1 — List the decoy files

Log in as bandit4, move into inhere, and see what's there:

cd inhere
ls -la

-file00  -file01  -file02  -file03  -file04
-file05  -file06  -file07  -file08  -file09

Step 2 — Identify each file's real type

Rather than opening every file by hand, ask the file command what each one actually contains — it inspects the content, not just the name:

file ./*

./-file00: data
./-file01: data
./-file02: data
...
./-file07: ASCII text
./-file08: data
./-file09: data

Step 3 — Read the real text file

Only one file is reported as ASCII text — that's the password. The filenames start with a dash, so use the same ./ fix from Level 1:

cat ./-file07

[PASSWORD FOR bandit5]

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

Key takeaways

A file's extension or name tells you nothing reliable about its actual content — file reads the real bytes and reports the true type. It's one of the fastest ways to triage a pile of unknown files before deciding which ones are worth opening.

• file inspects a file's actual content, not its name or extension
• A wildcard like ./* runs it against every file in the directory at once
• The dash-prefixed filenames here need the same ./ fix as Level 1

Resources

• OverTheWire Bandit
• GNU file(1) manual

Related reading

Misc 2026-09-24

OverTheWire Bandit Level 0 Writeup — Find Your First Password

Connect to OverTheWire's Bandit wargame over SSH and read a plaintext readme file to get your first password. The very first step into the game.