How to make . match all in apache configuration?

Question

Inside httpd.conf:

 rewriterule  ^questions/([0-9]+).*  ...

It matches /questions/1674/<textarea>,but not /questions/1674/<textarea><%2Ftextarea>

Answer 1

If you have an encoded forward slash in the URI, Apache returns an immediete 404. The error log will state:

[info] [client 1.2.3.4] found %2f (encoded '/') in URI (decoded='/question/1/'), returning 404

To work around this, add to your httpd.conf root or <VirtualHost> section the following directive:

AllowEncodedSlashes On

And then your rewrite will work. Information from the Apache manual:

The AllowEncodedSlashes directive allows URLs which contain encoded path separators (%2F for / and additionally %5C for \ on according systems) to be used. Normally such URLs are refused with a 404 (Not found) error.

For more information, see:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/core.html#allowencodedslashes

http://blog.dynom.nl/archives/Apaches-fail-with-encoded-slashes_20090625_40.html

Answer 2

Maybe you need the No Escape [NE] flag on the rule? Search for noescape in this page.