---
title: "WEB-NGX-007 nginx Serves Hidden Files and Folders"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-NGX-007.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/WEB-NGX-007.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# WEB-NGX-007 nginx Serves Hidden Files and Folders

No location block denies paths that begin with a dot, so .git, .env, .svn and .htaccess files under the document root are served if present.

- Domain: Web Apps
- Severity: Medium
- Control category: Information Exposure
- Fix effort: low
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`
- CIS Controls v8: 3.3
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.AA-05, PR.DS-01
- CWE: CWE-538, CWE-527
- OWASP Top 10 2021: A05:2021
- OWASP ASVS 4.0.3: 12.5.1, 14.3.3
- OWASP WSTG v4.2: WSTG-CONF-04
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: CM-7, SC-28
- Benchmark topic: Web server access to hidden files (topic only, no benchmark text)

## Why It Matters

Dot files hold repository history, credentials and server rules. One deny rule for every path segment starting with a dot removes a whole class of leaks, including files deployed by mistake later.

## How It Detects

Looks for a location block whose pattern matches a dot after a slash (for example  location ~ /\.  ) in the nginx configuration tree. Fails when no such block exists and nginx serves files (a root or alias directive is present).

## How to Fix

Add to every server block:  location ~ /\. { deny all; access_log off; log_not_found off; }  and keep .well-known reachable with a more specific  location ^~ /.well-known/  block before it.

## How to Verify

```
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' https://<site>/.git/HEAD  should print 403 or 404.
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P18 Web Server Hardening: nginx and Apache](https://openvapt.com/academy/p18.md)

## References

- [nginx documentation, ngx_http_core_module](https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html)
- [OWASP WSTG-CONF-04, Review Old Backup and Unreferenced Files](https://wstg.owasp.org/v4.2/4-Web_Application_Security_Testing/02-Configuration_and_Deployment_Management_Testing/04-Review_Old_Backup_and_Unreferenced_Files_for_Sensitive_Information/)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/web/serverconf.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only WEB-NGX-007`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain WEB-NGX-007`.

---

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