@hono/node-server has authorization bypass for protected static paths via encoded slashes in Serve Static Middleware

Summary

When using @hono/node-server's static file serving together with route-based middleware protections (e.g. protecting /admin/*), inconsistent URL decoding can allow protected static resources to be accessed without authorization.

In particular, paths containing encoded slashes (%2F) may be evaluated differently by routing/middleware matching versus static file path resolution, enabling a bypass where middleware does not run but the static file is still served.

Details

The routing layer and the node-server static handler normalize request paths differently. The router preserves %2F as a literal string when matching routes, while the static handler decodes %2F into / before resolving the filesystem path.

Example request:

• /admin%2Fsecret.html

This may:

• fail to match middleware intended for /admin/*, but

• still be resolved by the static handler as /admin/secret.html under the configured static root.

This does not allow access outside the configured static root and is not a path traversal vulnerability.

Impact

An unauthenticated attacker could bypass route-based authorization protections for protected static resources by supplying paths containing encoded slashes.

Applications relying solely on route-based middleware to protect static subpaths under the same static root may have exposed those resources.