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TryHackMe 'London Bridge' CTF: SSRF and Symlinks Yield Root-Level File Access

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A TryHackMe challenge room called 'The London Bridge' centres on a Flask-based 'Explore London' gallery app running behind Gunicorn on port 8080. A hidden endpoint, /view_image, accepts a URL parameter and fetches it server-side, creating a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability; the real parameter name 'www' must be discovered through fuzzing since the visible field is non-functional. The app's localhost-blocking filter is bypassed using the alternate loopback address http://0/, allowing attackers to reach a root-owned Python HTTP server bound to 127.0.0.1:80 and serving a user's home directory. By reading the SSH private key exposed through this server, a tester gains shell access as user 'beth', then uses symlinks to redirect the same root-run server toward sensitive files including /etc/shadow and a Firefox profile. The Firefox profile is decrypted locally to recover a saved credential, demonstrating how chained misconfigurations can expose critical data without ever obtaining a direct root shell.

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