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InDuLgEo on 5:04 PM 06/30/2025: 🧠 Heads-up for reversers and AV engines:
⚠️ This CrackMe may trigger false positives on VirusTotal due to:
- Use Packer (Custom)
- Encrypted constants ()
- Basic anti-debug (IsDebuggerPresent)
- Obfuscated validation logic
🚫 This is 100% safe and educational.
✔️ You are encouraged to unpack and analyze it freely.
— InDuLgEo / AoRE ☠️🧬
Elvis on 3:19 AM 07/01/2025: AoRE is still alive?????
InDuLgEo on 10:34 AM 07/01/2025: 🦴 InDuLgEo on 07/01/2025 – Reply to Elvis:
Yes, AoRE still exists — not as a group, but as an idea.
Not as a warez team... but as a creed.
👁️ The Art of Reverse Engineering was never about numbers or fame — it was about style, respect for the binary, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in a disassembler.
This CrackMe is a tribute to that philosophy.
To those who learned from keygens as kids...
To those who still smile when they see push eax / call MessageBox.
So call it a resurrection, or maybe just a reminder:
AoRE never died... it just went underground.
And some of us still carry the flag. ☠️🧬
— InDuLgEo / AoRE
nightxyz on 12:09 PM 07/01/2025: Name : nightxyz
Serial : 691604A0FA6FA1C99BCED0013AE788A2B39B56AFC0A96867BD2A1C31BE5DC9CE-OMGWTFBBQ
InDuLgEo on 2:07 PM 07/01/2025: Thanks for checking out the challenge, nightxyz.
✅ Your Name + Serial combo is valid.
❌ But remember — this is a KeygenMe, not a guessing contest.
🧠 The goal is to understand the algorithm, reverse it, and prove your knowledge.
Just posting a correct serial without any write-up, dump, or working keygen misses the essence of the challenge.
You're welcome to share your insights — the real reward is in the process.
— InDuLgEo / AoRE ☠️🧬
“Reverse with honor or not at all.”
Boozy on 11:34 AM 07/03/2025: Boozy-A46EC6FA53551E6C14C4835B324AC3889864AF08D0919FD6A7FA1A453379A149-OMGWTFBBQ
Ja4V8s28Ck on 8:56 PM 07/03/2025: name = InDuLgEo_CrackME_V2
key = 89BC00027B89CA2274C1201532EE4D9BFECEE9885326BD013579F9954F42163D-OMGWTFBBQ
SPOILER ALERT ---- AHEAD
Some BCD based calculations are done to the given input and a hex string is obtained. Then that hex string is hashed. @InDuLgEo I really loved the challenge please do make more adventurous crackme. I hope I didn't spoil the challenge much.
@InDuLgEo, If you want me to post my code here on the comments, do tell me.
Ja4V8s28Ck on 9:07 PM 07/03/2025: And I also observed the the key is susceptible to collision. This collision occurs as the first 4 characters of the name and the length of the name are only things important for generating key. So as long as the first 4 characters and length of the name doesn't change the key remains the same.
i.e
InDu############### and InDuLgEo_CrackME_V2 yields the same hash. # can be any printable character.
InDuLgEo on 11:20 PM 07/03/2025: 🧠 InDuLgEo on 07/04/2025 — Reminder to All:
🚫 Stop dropping raw serials here like it's a guessing game.
This is not about brute-force, collisions or dumping hex strings.
🎯 This is a KeyGenMe —
That means:
🔍 Understand the logic.
📜 Rebuild the algorithm.
🧠 Code your own working KeyGen.
You don’t prove anything by just posting a valid serial.
You prove it by showing you reversed it properly.
So if you really cracked it...
📎 Let’s see your code.
🧩 Let’s see the math.
🧰 Let’s see the KeyGen.
AoRE was never about shortcuts — it was about respect.
For the binary. For the process. For the art.
— InDuLgEo / AoRE ☠️🧬
“Reverse with honor or not at all.”
Ja4V8s28Ck on 4:00 AM 07/04/2025: Calm down @InDuLgEo, I can understand your frustration as the author of the challenge. Many are solving the challenge by getting the contents of the `key` during `strcmp` function and completely forgot that this is a reversing challenge. By the way I analyzed the code a little too well, thats why I came to know about the collision. And a friendly reminder is to stop prejudice and name calling people without hearing the full truth and bashing people is definitely not going to motivate them to make a challenge.
I made the first post with minimal spoilers only to make your realize that I understood the logic. But you didn't seem to catch it as the author of the challenge.So, Here is the code. I hope this makes you happy as the creator of this challenge.
https://pastebin.com/WU74KSUV
Ja4V8s28Ck on 4:10 AM 07/04/2025: As the code contains a big list of hardcoded values. Pastebin trimmed some of the lines of code. Here is the full version keygen.
https://textbin.net/i8e03ntmxt
hmx78912 on 6:23 AM 07/04/2025: lol :D
InDuLgEo on 1:45 PM 07/04/2025: — Reply to Ja4V8s28Ck:
Thanks for sharing your full KeyGen and taking time to understand the algorithm. I appreciate that you eventually posted the complete version and clarified your method.
However, let me also clarify something from my side — this challenge was not about dumping a value during strcmp or relying on patched binaries. It was meant to be reversed, understood, and reimplemented cleanly.
Many cracked it the lazy way and posted serials without even touching the algorithm. That’s not what AoRE or this scene is about. It’s why I insisted so strongly — not out of ego, but out of respect for true RCE.
Now that you’ve posted a functional Python KeyGen showing full understanding of the logic, that’s the spirit I hoped to see in the first place. That part, I do respect. 💀🔍
Let’s keep this scene alive through respect, authenticity, and clean work.
Good reversing.
— InDuLgEo / AoRE ☠️🧬
Ja4V8s28Ck on 1:58 PM 07/04/2025: I understand, Thanks to you for making this `crackme`. By the way if you don't mind me asking, what is this `Art of Reverse Engineering (AoRE)` that you are speaking of? Is it a book, because that's the first thing that I saw when I searched about AoRE or something else?
InDuLgEo on 5:49 PM 07/04/2025: 🧠 Reply to @Ja4V8s28Ck — About AoRE
AoRE is not a book, nor a course.
It’s a philosophy — a mindset born in the scene when binaries spoke in opcodes, and keygens came with scrolls, music, and crafted intros.
🔍 The Art of Reverse Engineering was once a crew, yes —
But more than a team, it was a style.
It was never about brute force or patched bytes.
It was about logic. Elegance.
About rebuilding what the original coder wrote — and doing it better.
Those of us who grew up with MS-DOS, SoftICE, and oldschool .nfo files know:
🔧 It was always about respect — for the binary, for the process, and for the coder on the other side of the screen.
So when someone writes a clean, working KeyGen…
🎯 That’s AoRE spirit.
AoRE never died.
It just went underground.
And some of us still carry the flag. ☠️🧬
— InDuLgEo / AoRE
“Reverse with honor or not at all.”
Ja4V8s28Ck on 6:07 PM 07/04/2025: @InDuLgEo Woah ✨ Your text gave me goosebumps.
I can only imagine what it must've been like to be part of those legendary days.
Thanks for sharing that mindset. Seems like it's more than just history, a true inspiration.
Really appreciate you taking the time to explain it. 🙏