file-system path substitution for RewriteRule in .htaccess not working as documented

[Daniel Hahler]

Binary package hint: apache2

According to http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule it should work like that:
file-system path
  Designates the location on the file-system of the resource to be delivered to the client.
URL-path
  A DocumentRoot-relative path to the resource to be served. Note that mod_rewrite tries to guess whether you have specified a file-system path or a URL-path by checking to see if the first segement of the path exists at the root of the file-system. For example, if you specify a Substitution string of /www/file.html, then this will be treated as a URL-path unless a directory named www exists at the root or your file-system, in which case it will be treated as a file-system path. If you wish other URL-mapping directives (such as Alias) to be applied to the resulting URL-path, use the [PT] flag as described below.

TEST CASE:
1. Create a .htaccess file with the following lines, for e.g. http://localhost/:
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteRule foo /tmp/bar.tmp
2. touch /tmp/bar.tmp
3. Access http://localhost/foo

ACTUAL RESULT:
You get an error page "The requested URL /tmp/bar.tmp was not found on this server.", because the substitution gets interpreted as URL relative to DocumentRoot

EXPECTED:
The file /tmp/bar.tmp gets served.

RewriteLog (at level 9):
[rid#8401900/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /foo
[rid#8401900/initial] (1) pass through /foo
[rid#8401900/initial] (3) [perdir /var/www/] strip per-dir prefix: /var/www/foo -> foo
[rid#8401900/initial] (3) [perdir /var/www/] applying pattern 'foo' to uri 'foo'
[rid#8401900/initial] (2) [perdir /var/www/] rewrite 'foo' -> '/tmp/bar.tmp'
[rid#8401900/initial] (1) [perdir /var/www/] internal redirect with /tmp/bar.tmp [INTERNAL REDIRECT]
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /tmp/bar.tmp
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (1) pass through /tmp/bar.tmp
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (3) [perdir /var/www/] add path info postfix: /var/www/tmp -> /home/da
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (3) [perdir /var/www/] strip per-dir prefix: /var/www/tmp/bar.tmp -> t
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (3) [perdir /var/www/] applying pattern 'foo' to uri 'tmp/bar.tmp'
[rid#840bfe0/initial/redir#1] (1) [perdir /var/www/] pass through /var/www/tmp

[Marnen Laibow-Koser (marnen)]

Confirmed. Happening for me too.

[Herbert Straub (herbert)]

I think, Apache works correctly. In my opinion, I cannot expect, that a simple .htaccess file in a directory serves the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow file, for example. If you place this RewriteRule in the default file (for example), not in a .htaccess file, then the /tmp/bar.tmp are served. See the documentation for details:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule
--> Per-directory Rewrites

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_rewrite.html

Log with RewriteRule in .htaccess:
[perdir /var/www/] strip per-dir prefix: /var/www/foo -> foo
[perdir /var/www/] applying pattern 'foo' to uri 'foo'
[perdir /var/www/] rewrite 'foo' -> '/tmp/bar.tmp'
[perdir /var/www/] internal redirect with /tmp/bar.tmp [INTERNAL REDIRECT]
[perdir /var/www/] add path info postfix: /var/www/tmp -> /var/www/tmp/bar.tmp
[perdir /var/www/] strip per-dir prefix: /var/www/tmp/bar.tmp -> tmp/bar.tmp
[perdir /var/www/] applying pattern 'foo' to uri 'tmp/bar.tmp'
[perdir /var/www/] pass through /var/www/tmp

Log with RewriteRule in default:
init rewrite engine with requested uri /foo
applying pattern '/foo' to uri '/foo'
rewrite '/foo' -> '/tmp/bar.tmp'
local path result: /tmp/bar.tmp
go-ahead with /tmp/bar.tmp [OK]

[Chuck Short (zulcss)]

Which version of apache are you using when you encounter this bug?

Thanks
chuck

[Chuck Short (zulcss)]

Is this still a problem for you in hardy?

Thanks
chuck

[Mackenzie Morgan (maco.m)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

If you are still experiencing this bug in Hardy or Intrepid, please reopen.