🛡️ Security

Path Traversal

A web vulnerability (CWE-22) where user-supplied input in a file path escapes the directory the application intended to serve from, typically via parent-directory references, letting an attacker read or write files elsewhere on the server.

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How Path Traversal Bugs Let Attackers Read Files Outside the Web Root

Path traversal turns a filename parameter into a read of any file the server can open. Learn why filters fail, what confinement means, and why a file read can be a full compromise.

intermediate 6 min read

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