-file-..-2f..-2f..-2f..-2fhome-2f-2a-2f.aws-2fcredentials ((full)) -

| Encoded/Obfuscated Part | Decoded Meaning | |------------------------|----------------| | -file- | Likely a parameter name or indicator (e.g., ?file= in a URL) | | .. | Parent directory symbol | | -2F | URL encoding for / (since / = %2F , but here -2F may be a custom or accidental obfuscation) | | ..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Fhome | Repeated ../ sequences to traverse up directories, then go into /home | | -2A | URL encoding for * (asterisk) — wildcard character | | .aws | Hidden directory .aws in user’s home | | -2Fcredentials | /credentials file |

In a typical Linux system, * would be expanded by the shell or application logic to match any username (e.g., ubuntu , ec2-user , admin , user ). So the attacker is trying to read credentials for on the system. Part 2: What Is Path Traversal? Path traversal (also known as directory traversal) is a vulnerability that allows an attacker to access files and directories stored outside the web root folder. By manipulating variables that reference files with “dot-dot-slash ( ../ )” sequences and its variants, an attacker can access arbitrary files on the server. -file-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Fhome-2F-2A-2F.aws-2Fcredentials

-file-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Fhome-2F-2A-2F.aws-2Fcredentials Part 2: What Is Path Traversal

In our encoded case, the attacker is trying to bypass naïve filters that might remove ../ by using URL encoding %2F (or in the given string, -2F as a hypothetical custom encoding) to evade detection. The .aws/credentials file is created by the AWS CLI, SDKs, and tools like aws configure . It stores: -file-

https://victim.com/download?file=../../../../home/ec2-user/.aws/credentials The server opens /var/log/app/../../../../home/ec2-user/.aws/credentials → /home/ec2-user/.aws/credentials → credentials are returned.

filename = request.args.get('file') with open('/var/log/app/' + filename, 'r') as f: return f.read() An attacker sends:

At first glance, this looks like a URL-encoded or escaped path traversal pattern attempting to reference a file at /home/*/.aws/credentials — a critical file containing AWS access keys and secret keys.