Apologies for the incoming wall of text, but emotions seem to be running high over this box.
One of the last steps to getting root can be frustrating due to the data being tucked “out of the way” as compared to everything else discovered and hinted at up until that point. However, in hindsight it’s a legitimate case of just having to try harder.
There aren’t really any trolls or CTF garbage on this box, the makers aren’t in here memeing you guys to death and being insufferable, and there are hints laying around all over the place. Some of those hints are subtle and easily missed, but they’re there.
This box seems to be designed to teach you to enumerate E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G and to not be lazy. If you don’t abide by that, you will smash your face against the wall for hours and get nowhere. That’s not because the box is garbage or because the makers are trolling you; it’s because you are overlooking “little” things that are actually quite important.
I think this box achieved its goal in getting people to go over things with a fine toothed comb. It’s 90% enumeration and trawling through the filesystem looking for that needle in the haystack. There are some pivoting and POPPIN’ SHELLZ moments, to be sure, but it’s mostly enumerate, enumerate, enumerate! Some people may argue that this kind of realism makes the box unfun, but that’s really down to personal preference. I disagree, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
TL/DR: Go easy on them, guys. I promise you everything works just fine and what you’re looking for is 100% right there under your nose.
I personally had a blast and learned a handful of things, despite being stuck at the same point everyone else was and being quite frustrated for a time. Thumbs up overall. Thanks for the learning experiences @MinatoTW and @egre55.