HTTP Path Traversal Attempt

Path traversal is a technique that exploits web application vulnerabilities, enabling attackers to access restricted files or directories outside of a web root folder. First, the attacker constructs a URI that includes a file name and a sequence of characters in the file path, such as .. or ../ (..%2F when encoded in HTML). These character sequences instruct the server to retrieve the file from a parent directory. Next, the attacker submits the modified URI within an HTTP request to the web application. If there is insufficient input validation or access controls, the application traverses up the directory to retrieve the file and deliver it to the attacker.