title: Bypass of path matching rules using escaped slash characters
description: Envoy is a cloud-native edge/middle/service proxy. Envoy does not decode escaped slash sequences `%2F` and `%5C` in HTTP URL paths in versions 1.18.2 and before. A remote attacker may craft a path with escaped slashes, e.g. `/something%2F..%2Fadmin`, to bypass access control, e.g. a block on `/admin`. A backend server could then decode slash sequences and normalize path and provide an attacker access beyond the scope provided for by the access control policy. ### Impact Escalation of Privileges when using RBAC or JWT filters with enforcement based on URL path. Users with back end servers that interpret `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably are impacted. ### Attack Vector URL paths containing escaped slash characters delivered by untrusted client. Patches in versions 1.18.3, 1.17.3, 1.16.4, 1.15.5 contain new path normalization option to decode escaped slash characters. As a workaround, if back end servers treat `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably and a URL path based access control is configured, one may reconfigure the back end server to not treat `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably.
problem types: CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
affected:
{
product: envoy
vendor: envoyproxy
versions:
status: affected, version: <= 1.18.2
}
metrics:
cvssV3_1: [
attackComplexity: HIGH
attackVector: NETWORK
availabilityImpact: HIGH
baseScore: 8.1
baseSeverity: HIGH
confidentialityImpact: HIGH
integrityImpact: HIGH
privilegesRequired: NONE
scope: UNCHANGED
userInteraction: NONE
vectorString: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
version: 3.1
]