What or framework your application uses
The keyword -page-....-2F-2F....-2F-2F....-2F-2Fetc-2Fpasswd is a perfect example of custom obfuscation: it does not contain common signatures like ../ or %2e%2e , but after interpretation it becomes a path traversal payload.
If a user requests index.php?page=about.php , the server loads /var/www/html/about.php . -page-....-2F-2F....-2F-2F....-2F-2Fetc-2Fpasswd
$page = $_GET['page']; include('/var/www/html/pages/' . $page); Use code with caution.
To understand the mechanism of this keyword, we must break it down into its core components: the traversal sequence, the URL encoding, and the target file. 1. The Traversal Sequence ( ../ ) What or framework your application uses The keyword -page-
A real‑world scenario might look like this:
If the developer implements a weak defense—such as stripping out ../ or blocking raw slashes—the encoded payload ( ....-2F-2Fetc-2Fpasswd ) acts as an evasion technique to achieve the exact same result. Security Risks and Impact $page); Use code with caution
: This part seems to be a dynamic or variable section of the URL, possibly used to navigate to a specific webpage or to invoke a particular server-side script.
: This typically identifies the vulnerable parameter name in a URL (e.g., ://example.com... ).