diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpServer.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpServer.java
index 6d43053e408..6a84b0c04dc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpServer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/http/HttpServer.java
@@ -177,11 +177,13 @@ public class HttpServer extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpServer> {
         sitePath = sitePath.replace("/", separator);
         // this is a plugin provided site, serve it as static files from the plugin location
         Path file = FileSystemUtils.append(siteFile, PathUtils.get(sitePath), 0);
-        if (!Files.exists(file) || Files.isHidden(file)) {
+
+        // return not found instead of forbidden to prevent malicious requests to find out if files exist or dont exist
+        if (!Files.exists(file) || Files.isHidden(file) || !file.toAbsolutePath().normalize().startsWith(siteFile.toAbsolutePath())) {
             channel.sendResponse(new BytesRestResponse(NOT_FOUND));
             return;
         }
-        
+
         BasicFileAttributes attributes = Files.readAttributes(file, BasicFileAttributes.class);
         if (!attributes.isRegularFile()) {
             // If it's not a dir, we send a 403
@@ -196,10 +198,7 @@ public class HttpServer extends AbstractLifecycleComponent<HttpServer> {
                 return;
             }
         }
-        if (!file.toAbsolutePath().startsWith(siteFile.toAbsolutePath())) {
-            channel.sendResponse(new BytesRestResponse(FORBIDDEN));
-            return;
-        }
+
         try {
             byte[] data = Files.readAllBytes(file);
             channel.sendResponse(new BytesRestResponse(OK, guessMimeType(sitePath), data));
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/SitePluginTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/SitePluginTests.java
index 7889ec9ead9..8106c6f60dd 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/SitePluginTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/plugins/SitePluginTests.java
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ImmutableSettings.settingsBuilder;
 import static org.elasticsearch.test.ElasticsearchIntegrationTest.Scope;
@@ -86,6 +89,34 @@ public class SitePluginTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         assertThat(response.getBody(), containsString("<title>Dummy Site Plugin</title>"));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Test normalizing of path
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testThatPathsAreNormalized() throws Exception {
+        // more info: https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Path_Traversal
+        List<String> notFoundUris = new ArrayList<>();
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/../../../../../log4j.properties");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/../../../../../%00log4j.properties");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/..%c0%af..%c0%af..%c0%af..%c0%af..%c0%aflog4j.properties");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/index.html");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/index.html");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/%2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2f%2e%2e%2findex.html");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/%2E%2E/index.html");
+        notFoundUris.add("/_plugin/dummy/..\\..\\..\\..\\..\\log4j.properties");
+
+        for (String uri : notFoundUris) {
+            HttpResponse response = httpClient().path(uri).execute();
+            String message = String.format(Locale.ROOT, "URI [%s] expected to be not found", uri);
+            assertThat(message, response.getStatusCode(), equalTo(RestStatus.NOT_FOUND.getStatus()));
+        }
+
+        // using relative path inside of the plugin should work
+        HttpResponse response = httpClient().path("/_plugin/dummy/dir1/../dir1/../index.html").execute();
+        assertThat(response.getStatusCode(), equalTo(RestStatus.OK.getStatus()));
+        assertThat(response.getBody(), containsString("<title>Dummy Site Plugin</title>"));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Test case for #4845: https://github.com/elasticsearch/elasticsearch/issues/4845
      * Serving _site plugins do not pick up on index.html for sub directories
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/elasticsearch/plugins/dummy/_site/dir1/.empty b/src/test/resources/org/elasticsearch/plugins/dummy/_site/dir1/.empty
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e69de29bb2d