The operating system resolves the relative path, steps completely out of /var/www/html/templates/ , and prints the contents of the AWS credentials file directly to the attacker’s web browser. Remediation and Mitigation Strategies
Understanding this payload helps developers and security engineers recognize how attackers attempt to extract highly sensitive cloud infrastructure secrets. Anatomy of the Payload
../../../../../root/aws/credentials
: AWS provides configuration and credential files for storing settings and credentials. Keep these files updated and secure. -template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials
Another case involved a misconfigured Node.js application that used express.static() with a base directory that didn’t sanitize .. sequences. Attackers used GET /static/..%2F..%2F..%2Froot%2F.aws%2Fcredentials to retrieve the keys. The encoded %2F was enough to bypass a simple blacklist of ../ .
: Never run web servers as the root user. If the server runs as a low-privileged user (e.g., www-data ), it won't have permission to read files in the /root/ directory even if a traversal vulnerability exists.
Some developers think, “I only serve .pdf files, so an attacker can’t do much damage.” But the attacker can still read /etc/passwd or /root/.aws/credentials – they don’t need a .pdf extension. The operating system resolves the relative path, steps
: This targets the file path /root/.aws/credentials . The Objective: AWS Credential Theft
: On AWS EC2 or Lambda, avoid storing hardcoded credentials in files. Use IAM Roles for EC2 which provide temporary, rotating credentials via the Metadata Service (IMDS).
The string -template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials Keep these files updated and secure
need to write a long article for a keyword that looks like a path traversal or file path: "-template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials". The keyword appears to be a URL-encoded or double-encoded path: "..-2F" likely represents "../" where "-2F" is the dash and then 2F? Actually careful: The string is "-template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials". The "-2F" probably stands for the URL encoding of slash: %2F, but here it's written with a dash. So "..-2F" might be "..%2F" which decodes to "../". So repeated "..-2F" gives "../../../../". Then "root-2F.aws-2Fcredentials" becomes "root%2F.aws%2Fcredentials" -> "root/.aws/credentials". So the path is "../../../../../root/.aws/credentials". That's a classic path traversal attack targeting AWS credentials file.
Decoding the Threat: -template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials
[default] aws_access_key_id = AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key = wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY [prod] aws_access_key_id = AKIAI44QH8DHBEXAMPLE aws_secret_access_key = je7MtGbClwBF/2Zp9Utk/h3yCo8nvbEXAMPLEKEY
If an attacker successfully retrieves this file, they gain the same permissions as the compromised server. This can lead to full cloud environment takeovers, data exfiltration, or unauthorized resource provisioning (like crypto-mining). Vulnerability Mechanism
This specific string is a perfect teaching tool. It demonstrates how attackers mutate their payloads to bypass naive security filters. Many developers would block ../ but never think to block ..-2F (which is just ../ with a dash‑encoded slash). By understanding this obscure pattern, security teams can write more robust detection rules.