Lab 3 : Source code disclosure via backup files

Lab Objective

The goal of this lab is to locate leaked backup files and extract a hard-coded database password from the disclosed source code.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Check robots.txt for hidden paths

robots.txt is designed to tell search engine crawlers which paths not to index :

/robots.txt

/robots.txt

revealed a disallowed /backup directory.

2. Enumerate the backup directory

Browsing directly to /backup surfaced a file named:

ProductTemplate.java.bak

ProductTemplate.java.bak

3. Retrieve and read the leaked source file

Navigating to:

/backup/ProductTemplate.java.bak

/backup/ProductTemplate.java.bak

4. Extract the hard-coded credential

Reading through the disclosed source, the database connection logic contained a hard-coded password used to authenticate against a Postgres database.

5. Submit the solution

I copied the password value, returned to the lab, clicked Submit solution, and entered it. The lab was marked as solved.

Written by Zeyad Naguib,

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeyadnageeb ✍️ https://medium.com/@zeyadnaguib1