Whether your app runs on , containers (ECS/EKS) , or on-premises servers?
-template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials
: A path traversal flaw that was actively exploited in the wild to read sensitive files, following the same pattern of skipping path validation in file-reading features. Endor Labs -template-..-2F..-2F..-2F..-2Froot-2F.aws-2Fcredentials
With access keys in hand, attackers routinely spin up high-performance, expensive Amazon EC2 instances or utilize Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) cluster resources to mine cryptocurrency. This can result in tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent infrastructure charges within a matter of hours. 3. Lateral Movement and Persistence
If your application uses templates that accept file names or allow dynamic inclusion, interpolate user input directly into the template name. Instead, map user‑friendly names to pre‑compiled templates. Whether your app runs on , containers (ECS/EKS)
function safeReadFile(userInput) const resolved = path.resolve(basedir, userInput); if (!resolved.startsWith(basedir)) throw new Error('Path traversal detected');
. Use a dedicated low‑privileged user (e.g., www-data , nginx ). Even if an attacker successfully performs path traversal, they will be unable to read /root/.aws/credentials because the process lacks permissions. However, note that credentials might be stored in the web user’s own home directory (e.g., /home/www-data/.aws/credentials ) – avoid that too. This can result in tens of thousands of
..-2F – The -2F substring is reminiscent of URL encoding, where %2F represents the forward slash ( / ). Here, the percent sign ( % ) is replaced by a dash ( - ), possibly to bypass naive filters that block %2F or ../ . So ..-2F decodes to ../ (the parent directory traversal sequence).
This string represents a Path Traversal (or Local File Inclusion) attack payload. It is designed to exploit a vulnerability in a web application to read the AWS credentials file from the server's root directory. Vulnerability Overview Vulnerability Type : Path Traversal / Directory Traversal. Target File /root/.aws/credentials
If credentials are leaked, detection shifts to identifying credential abuse via AWS CloudTrail. Watch for:
Even if the file is not world‑readable, misconfigured web servers (e.g., running as root ) or improper file permissions often leave it exposed.