Security Operations · Foundational

Directory Traversal

An attack that manipulates file paths with sequences like ../ to access files outside the intended directory.

Definition

Also called path traversal, it exploits applications that build file paths from user input without proper validation. Attackers read sensitive files such as /etc/passwd or configuration files with credentials. Canonicalizing paths, allowlisting filenames and running with least privilege mitigate it.

Don't confuse it with

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