> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://hackwithmike.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pterodactyl (Medium) - HTB

> Linux | Released on 7th February, 2026 | Created by HeadMonitor & TheCyberGeek

## Starting the box

***

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/hackwithmike/-HZ-HZ1ZjfjbJik7/assets/images/htb/pterodactyl/pwned.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=-HZ-HZ1ZjfjbJik7&q=85&s=9ec15998ff2ff2641fcf814c02d959e1" noZoom width="1007" height="965" data-path="assets/images/htb/pterodactyl/pwned.png" />

Link to the box: [https://app.hackthebox.com/machines/Pterodactyl](https://app.hackthebox.com/machines/Pterodactyl)

### Port Scan

We start off the box by running a port scan on the provided IP.

```text title="Attacker Linux" icon="linux" wrap theme={null}
rustscan --ulimit 5000 -a 10.129.16.216 -r 1-65535 -- -A -vvv -oN Pterodactyl
```

Output of Rustscan:

```text title="Terminal Output" icon="file-lines" wrap theme={null}
Open 10.129.16.216:22
Open 10.129.16.216:80
```

Output of Nmap:

```text title="Terminal Output" icon="file-lines" wrap theme={null}
PORT   STATE SERVICE REASON         VERSION
22/tcp open  ssh     syn-ack ttl 63 OpenSSH 9.6 (protocol 2.0)
| ssh-hostkey:
|   256 a3:74:1e:a3:ad:02:14:01:00:e6:ab:b4:18:84:16:e0 (ECDSA)
| ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBOouXDOkVrDkob+tyXJOHu3twWDqor3xlKgyYmLIrPasaNjhBW/xkGT2otP1zmnkTUyGfzEWZGkZB2Jkaivmjgc=
|   256 65:c8:33:17:7a:d6:52:3d:63:c3:e4:a9:60:64:2d:cc (ED25519)
|_ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIJTXNuX5oJaGQJfvbga+jM+14w5ndyb0DN0jWJHQCDd9
80/tcp open  http    syn-ack ttl 63 nginx 1.21.5
|_http-server-header: nginx/1.21.5
|_http-title: Did not follow redirect to http://pterodactyl.htb/
| http-methods:
|_  Supported Methods: GET HEAD POST OPTIONS
```

A few key notes:

* Port 22 (SSH) - Only accepts ECDSA and ED25519 keys, no password authentication visible yet.
* Port 80 (HTTP) - Redirects to `http://pterodactyl.htb/`. Running Nginx 1.21.5.

### Edit the Hosts file

As always, we edit the `/etc/hosts` file to add the hostname:

```text title="Attacker Linux" icon="linux" wrap theme={null}
sudo nano /etc/hosts
```

/etc/hosts

```text title="Nano Interface" icon="file-lines" wrap theme={null}
10.129.16.216 pterodactyl.htb
```

## Active Box

***

<Warning>This box is currently still active on Hack the Box - Full writeup will be available when the box is retired. Feel free to reach out to me on [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/michael-kh-chan) or [Discord](https://discord.com/users/631538127541895188) for nudges & sanity checks.</Warning>