📌 About the Event

EXPLOIT-X E2 (KPR CTF 2026) is a premier national-level Capture The Flag (CTF) cyber defense and offense hackathon hosted by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology (KPRIET). Organized in association with the IEEE Computer Society, the Cloud Security Alliance, and DCG Coimbatore, this offline hackathon serves as an intense testing ground for ethical hackers, digital forensics analysts, and zero-day security researchers across the country.

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📅 Critical Timelines

• Registration Cutoff: July 25, 2026
• Live Challenge Kickoff: July 27, 2026 (Monday, 09:00 AM to 04:00 PM)
• Physical Venue: Thanam Hall, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Avinashi Road, Arasur, Coimbatore – 641407, Tamil Nadu, India.

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🎛️ Attack Vectors (The 6 Focus Tracks)

The competitive arena simulates high-stakes adversarial environments with custom-built problems across six distinct cybersecurity domains:

• VECTOR.01 Web Exploitation: Exploiting flaws like SQL Injection (SQLi), Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF), and authentication bypass mechanisms.
• VECTOR.02 Cryptography: Decrypting hidden flags by targeting weak ciphers, public-key infrastructure (RSA) flaws, and custom cryptographic hash attacks.
• VECTOR.03 Reverse Engineering: Disassembling compiled binaries, running active code debugging, and cracking deobfuscation layers.
• VECTOR.04 Binary Exploitation: Navigating deep memory corruptions, parsing stack/buffer overflows, Return-Oriented Programming (ROP), and heap-based vulnerabilities.
• VECTOR.05 Digital Forensics: Analyzing complex memory dumps, system log streams, and raw network packet captures (PCAPs).
• VECTOR.06 OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence): Tracing hidden targets using open-source footprinting, metadata extraction, and internet-wide digital footprints.

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📏 Operational Rules & Infrastructure Protocols

To maintain strict competitive integrity, the operations center enforces the following network and behavioral guidelines:

• Squad Formations: Teams must consist of a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 4 members. The registration entry fee is fixed at ₹400 per team.
• Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Competing squads are fully responsible for bringing their own hardware setups, laptops, power cables, and specific technical operating environments.
• Infrastructure Isolation: Attacking or overloading the live CTF infrastructure such as the central scoring boards, core network nodes, or host machines is strictly banned. Pentesting tools (e.g., Wireshark, Burp Suite, Nmap) are authorized strictly for specified challenge targets.
• Collusion Detection: Sharing solution write-ups, cross-team hints, keys, or plagiarism will be met with automated anomaly tracking and continuous background log screening, leading to immediate disqualification.

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🏆 Prize Ecosystem & Corporate backing

The tournament features heavy alignment with marquee international training bodies and enterprise software giants to provide elite validation and resources:

Reward Track	Value Tier	Tiered Technical Corporate Backing
🥇 Champion Pool	₹50,000 Voucher Prize Pool	EC-Council: World-leading professional certification body verifying challenge tiers. Hackup Technology: Premier regional training enterprise providing security assessments. Sparkout Tech: Deep-tech engineering and enterprise blockchain developers supporting target design.

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📞 Command Network & Event Coordinators

Reach out directly to the academic convenors and student steering committees for structural onboarding questions or venue assistance:

• Dr. Mirunajoemali. S (Convenor & HoD, CSE)
• Dr. Vishnukumar K (Co-Convenor) – Phone: +91 98942 50056
• Dr. Mouthami K (Co-Convenor) – Phone: +91 88381 43425
• Ms. Ramya G (Student Coordinator) – Phone: +91 63830 96939
• Mr. Dheena A (Student Coordinator) – Phone: +91 93842 11247