A path traversal vulnerability was identified TP-Link Tapo C260 v1, D235 v1, C211 v2 and C520WS v2.6 within the HTTP server’s handling of GET requests. The server performs path normalization before fully decoding URL encoded input and falls back to using the raw path when normalization fails. An attacker can exploit this logic flaw by supplying crafted, URL encoded traversal sequences that bypass directory restrictions and allow access to files outside the intended web root.

Successful exploitation may allow authenticated attackers to get disclosure of sensitive system files and credentials, while unauthenticated attackers may gain access to non-sensitive static assets.

On TP-Link Tapo C260 v1, path traversal is possible due to improper handling of specific GET request paths via https, allowing local unauthenticated probing of filesystem paths. An attacker on the local network can determine whether certain files exists on the device, with no read, write or code execution possibilities.