If an attacker successfully exfiltrates this file, they can impersonate the compromised user or service. Depending on the permissions (IAM policies) attached to those keys, an attacker could: Steal or delete sensitive data from S3 buckets. Launch expensive EC2 instances for crypto-mining. Modify security groups to create further backdoors. Gain full administrative control over the AWS account. How the Vulnerability Manifests
: This attempts to navigate into any user's home directory.
: These are "traversal sequences" designed to move up the folder hierarchy from the application's working directory to the root directory ( / ).
Understanding how this works, why it is dangerous, and how to prevent it is critical for any developer or security professional working with cloud infrastructure. What is a Path Traversal Attack?