Kernelcon 2019 · United States · 2019

Kernelcon 2019 K Badge

ATtiny85 and APA102 blinky CTF badge

Kernelcon's 2019 K-shaped badge was an electronic badge controlled by an ATtiny85, powered by three CR2032 cells, and fitted with five APA102 addressable RGB LEDs plus a button-driven mode system and CTF clues.

Kernelcon United States Omaha ATtiny85 APA102 CR2032 CTF Binary Blink ZonkSec North America

EventKernelcon 2019

SeriesKernelcon

LocationEmbassy Suites by Hilton Omaha Downtown Old Market, Omaha, Nebraska

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

2019 badge collaborator

@diggeroflogs

ZonkSec credits @diggeroflogs with handling other facets of the 2019 badge.

Source

2019 badge collaborator

@scotchsec

ZonkSec credits @scotchsec with handling other facets of the 2019 badge.

Source

badge programming and documentation publisher

ZonkSec / Tyler Rosonke

ZonkSec states Tyler Rosonke primarily helped with concept and programming for the 2019 Kernelcon badge and published the repository.

Source

Why It Mattered

It anchors Kernelcon's public badgelife lineage in the inaugural Omaha conference year and preserves a small but source-backed artifact where blink patterns, silkscreen clues, and a companion Docker challenge formed the event badge game.

Hardware

The public repository and ZonkSec retrospective document an Atmel ATtiny85 controller, three CR2032 battery slots, five APA102 RGB LEDs, a power switch, a momentary mode button, and physical badge variants for hacker, crew/organizer, and speaker clues.

Software & Apps

The repository describes multiple LED modes including independent fading, synchronized fading, binary blink-out, rave mode, looping animation, and a hidden mode reached after repeated mode-button presses. It also preserves a multi-container Docker CTF application for the badge challenges.

Lore

The 2019 challenges used binary blinking lights, a URL, SSRF, badge silkscreen encodings, badge-role-specific dino IDs, and a request-header extraction path. Later Kernelcon pages list the 2019 artifact as the K Badge.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge historical

Binary blink and Docker CTF

The 2019 badge challenges used blinked binary, silkscreen encoding, badge-role variants, SSRF, and a Docker-hosted challenge app.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2019 K Badge

Source

firmware behavior source-backed

APA102 mode stack

The badge exposed fading, freeze, binary blink, rave, and looping-animation modes through the badge button.

Compatibility: Kernelcon 2019 K Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No Kernelcon 2019 badge image is published because the recovered repository images have not been paired with a complete reusable image license, attribution, and processing record.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying repository screenshots or photos without complete catalogue provenance.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: open
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and ZonkSec kernelcon-2019-badge repository.

repository-license caveat note

The public repository documents hardware and challenge behavior, but this pass did not recover a top-level license suitable for local image or code reuse assumptions.

The catalogue cites the repository as evidence while leaving images empty and avoiding license claims beyond the source text.

Confidence: repository audit
Status: documented
Timeframe: current Kernelcon pass
Source note: ZonkSec kernelcon-2019-badge repository.

Resources

Kernelcon 2019 badge repository hardware and challenge archive · Public ZonkSec repository preserving the ATtiny85, CR2032, APA102, LED-mode, and Docker CTF challenge details. Kernelcon 2019 event notice event context · University of Nebraska-Lincoln announcement source for April 5-6, 2019 dates, Embassy Suites Omaha Downtown Old Market venue, and limited electronic badge availability. Kernelcon 2019/2020 retrospective project-owner writeup · ZonkSec retrospective corroborating the 2019 K badge hardware, power switch, momentary button, CTF blink behavior, and project team context.

Sources

ZonkSec: Kernelcon Electronic Badges and Pogopin Hackery Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Project-owner retrospective corroborating 2019 badge concept, programming role, power switch, mode button, and CTF blink challenges. ZonkSec GitHub repository: kernelcon-2019-badge README Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for ATtiny85, CR2032 battery slots, five APA102 LEDs, LED modes, binary blink behavior, secret mode, badge-role variants, and Docker CTF challenge flow.