-page-....-2f-2f....-2f-2f....-2f-2fetc-2fpasswd

-page-....-2f-2f....-2f-2f....-2f-2fetc-2fpasswd

The string you've provided, -page-....-2F-2F....-2F-2F....-2F-2Fetc-2Fpasswd, is a classic example of a Path Traversal or Local File Inclusion (LFI) attack payload.

6. Possible Attack Flow

1. Attacker finds a parameter like ?page=index
2. Tests payload: ?page=....//....//....//etc/passwd
3. If response contains root:x:0:0:..., the vulnerability exists
4. Attacker escalates to reading config files, source code, SSH keys, or using LFI (Local File Inclusion) to RCE (Remote Code Execution)

On Linux and Unix-based systems, the /etc/passwd file is a goldmine for initial reconnaissance. It contains a list of every user on the system, their user IDs, and their home directory paths. While modern systems store actual passwords in a separate "shadow" file, knowing the usernames is the first step for an attacker to launch a brute-force or credential-stuffing attack. 3. How the Vulnerability Happens -page-....-2F-2F....-2F-2F....-2F-2Fetc-2Fpasswd

username:x:UID:GID:GECOS:home_directory:login_shell

If the web application does something like:
/var/www/html/page- + user input + .html
Then the attacker might inject ../../../etc/passwd to read system files. The string you've provided, -page-