Web Path Traversal Exploitation Attempts via Encoded Traversal in URL Query

Alerts on web requests with URL query path traversal patterns targeting /etc/ and other sensitive filesystem paths.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v2

Category: webserver
Author: Subhash Popuri (@pbssubhash), Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Thurein Oo, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2021-09-25
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags web requests where the URL query contains common path traversal payloads, including normalized traversal sequences (../../..), mixed Windows paths, and URL-encoded/double-encoded variants. Attackers use these patterns to try accessing files outside the intended web root, potentially leading to sensitive file disclosure or further exploitation. It relies on webserver request telemetry that includes the full request URI query string as text.

Reporting behind it

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Web Path Traversal Exploitation Attempts via Encoded Traversal in URL Query

Pivot detection · T1190 · 9 related

Changelog

v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

webserver-path-traversal-exploitation-attempts-via-suspicious-uri-query-encoding-7745c2ea

title: Web Path Traversal Exploitation Attempts via Encoded Traversal in URL Query
id: fea95278-f728-441b-865a-961c0469da31
status: test
description: This rule flags web requests where the URL query contains common path traversal payloads, including normalized traversal sequences (../../..), mixed Windows paths, and URL-encoded/double-encoded variants. Attackers use these patterns to try accessing files outside the intended web root, potentially leading to sensitive file disclosure or further exploitation. It relies on webserver request telemetry that includes the full request URI query string as text.
references:
  - https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
  - https://book.hacktricks.xyz/pentesting-web/file-inclusion
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/web/webserver_generic/web_path_traversal_exploitation_attempt.yml
author: Subhash Popuri (@pbssubhash), Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Thurein Oo, Nasreddine Bencherchali (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2021-09-25
modified: 2023-08-31
tags:
  - attack.initial-access
  - attack.t1190
logsource:
  category: webserver
detection:
  selection:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - ../../../../../lib/password
      - ../../../../windows/
      - ../../../etc/
      - ..%252f..%252f..%252fetc%252f
      - ..%c0%af..%c0%af..%c0%afetc%c0%af
      - "%252e%252e%252fetc%252f"
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Expected to be continuously seen on systems exposed to the Internet
  - Internal vulnerability scanners
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 7745c2ea-24a5-4290-b680-04359cb84b35
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

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