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What may an attacker steal exploiting directory traversal vulnerability

Author

Isabella Wilson

Published Apr 07, 2026

An attacker may use directory traversal to download server configuration files, which contain sensitive information and potentially expose more server vulnerabilities. Ultimately, the attacker may access confidential information or even get full control of the server.

What is a directory traversal vulnerability?

Directory traversal (also known as file path traversal) is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to read arbitrary files on the server that is running an application. This might include application code and data, credentials for back-end systems, and sensitive operating system files.

What is the impact of the directory traversal attack?

The impact of a Directory Traversal attack An attacker can leverage a directory traversal vulnerability in the system to step out of the root directory, allowing them to access other parts of the file system to view restricted files and gather more information required to further compromise the system.

Is directory traversal illegal?

The Directory Transversal technique allows attackers to access files, directories, and commands inside the root directory of an application folder on the disk that should not, in reality, be accessible to an unauthorized user.

What is directory transfer attack?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A directory traversal (or path traversal) attack exploits insufficient security validation or sanitization of user-supplied file names, such that characters representing “traverse to parent directory” are passed through to the operating system’s file system API.

What function causes path traversal vulnerabilities in PHP THM?

Path traversal vulnerabilities occur when the user’s input is passed to a function such as file_get_contents in PHP.

Which of the following sequence is used by the attacker in the directory traversal attacks to access restricted directories outside of the web server root directory?

Directory traversal or Path Traversal is an HTTP attack which allows attackers to access restricted directories and execute commands outside of the web server’s root directory. An Access Control List is used in the authorization process.

What happens during the exploitation of a typical race condition vulnerability?

The famous Meltdown attack is an example of exploitation of a race condition vulnerability. In this case, the vulnerability is caused by parallel processing of fetching data from memory and checking if a user has authorization to access that memory. Fetching data from memory can be slow.

Why are file names vulnerable to security vulnerabilities?

Many file-related security vulnerabilities result from a program accessing an unintended file object because file names are only loosely bound to underlying file objects. File names provide no information regarding the nature of the file object itself.

What is HTTP directory traversal request attempt?

Directory traversal is a type of HTTP exploit that is used by attackers to gain unauthorized access to restricted directories and files. … Directory traversal attacks use web server software to exploit inadequate security mechanisms and access directories and files stored outside of the web root folder.

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What is directory traversal attack Mcq?

Directory traversal is a form of HTTP exploit in which a hacker uses the software on a Web server to access data in a directory other than the server’s root directory. … Any server in which input data from Web browsers is not validated is vulnerable to this type of attack.

What is the name of the dictionary that includes the signature that blocks the exploit of CMD EXE on an IIS server?

The root directory prevents attackers from executing files such as cmd.exe on Windows platforms or accessing sensitive files such as the ”passwd” password file on UNIX platforms, as these files reside outside of the root directory.

What is the difference between LFI and directory traversal?

Note: While Path/Directory Traversal may seem similar to Local File Inclusion (LFI) and Remote File Inclusion (RFI), Path/Directory Traversal vulnerabilities only allow an attacker to read a file, while LFI and RFI may also allow an attacker to execute code.

Which is a countermeasure to a directory traversal attack?

Explanation: A countermeasure to a directory-traversal attack is to enforce permissions to folders.

In which type of social engineering technique does an attacker secretly observers the target to gain critical information such as passwords credit card information etc?

In computer security, shoulder surfing is a type of social engineering technique used to obtain information such as personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords and other confidential data by looking over the victim’s shoulder.

Why is session hijacking successful?

One of the most valuable byproducts of this type of attack is the ability to gain access to a server without having to authenticate to it. Once the attacker hijacks a session, they no longer have to worry about authenticating to the server as long as the communication session remains active.

What is an example of social engineering?

9 most common examples of social engineering are: Phishing: tactics include deceptive emails, websites, and text messages to steal information. Spear Phishing: email is used to carry out targeted attacks against individuals or businesses.

When malicious code is injected directly into an application which type of vulnerability occurs?

Code injection, also called Remote Code Execution (RCE), occurs when an attacker exploits an input validation flaw in software to introduce and execute malicious code.

What is SQL Injection in PHP with example?

SQL injection is a code injection technique that might destroy your database. … SQL injection is the placement of malicious code in SQL statements, via web page input.

What is path injection?

A path traversal attack (also known as directory traversal) aims to access files and directories that are stored outside the web root folder. … It should be noted that access to files is limited by system operational access control (such as in the case of locked or in-use files on the Microsoft Windows operating system).

What are the uses of file name?

A filename or file name is a name used to uniquely identify a computer file in a directory structure. Different file systems impose different restrictions on filename lengths and the allowed characters within filenames.

What is defense in depth strategy?

Defense in Depth (DiD) refers to an information security approach in which a series of security mechanisms and controls are thoughtfully layered throughout a computer network to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the network and the data within.

Which of the following function is used to change the name of the file?

rename() function is defined in stdio. h header file. It renames a file or directory from oldname to newname . The rename operation is same as move, hence you can also use this function to move a file.

Is a weakness in your application that an attacker could potentially exploit?

Explanation: Vulnerabilities is defined as the weakness in a system that can be exploited by cyber-criminals and attackers.

What is race condition What are the effects of race condition?

When race conditions occur A race condition occurs when two threads access a shared variable at the same time. The first thread reads the variable, and the second thread reads the same value from the variable.

What are the different methods to exploit a race condition?

  • Running multiple applications in parallel.
  • Programmatic access to an application.
  • Using an external program to edit shared resources.
  • Sources.

What is a directory traversal vulnerability?

Directory traversal (also known as file path traversal) is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to read arbitrary files on the server that is running an application. This might include application code and data, credentials for back-end systems, and sensitive operating system files.

What are path traversal vulnerabilities?

A path traversal vulnerability allows an attacker to access files on your web server to which they should not have access. They do this by tricking either the web server or the web application running on it into returning files that exist outside of the web root folder.

What is security misconfiguration attacks?

Security misconfiguration vulnerabilities occur when a web application component is susceptible to attack due to a misconfiguration or insecure configuration option. … Misconfiguration vulnerabilities are configuration weaknesses that may exist in software components or subsystems.

How does a directory traversal attack work?

A directory traversal attack (or file path traversal attack) allows attackers to read random files on the server that is running a web application. These files may include the application’s source code and data, credentials for backend systems, or sensitive OS files.

What are hybrid attacks Mcq?

An attempt to crack passwords using a combination of characters, numbers, and symbols. … An attempt to crack passwords by replacing characters with numbers and symbols. Correct Answer – B. Explanation – Hybrid attacks do crack passwords that are created with replaced characters of dictionary type words.