MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag

Abstract

Embedded devices often lack security, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. This project documents a hardening effort for the 2025 MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag (eCTF) competition. Using a simulated satellite television system, the team applied secure design practices including authenticated encryption, secure subscription management, key protection, and message authentication. The system was validated through functional testing and adversarial scenarios mirroring real-world attack vectors. This work demonstrates how controlled environments can be used to study embedded vulnerabilities and implement defenses for systems operating in adversarial environments.