Unix Absolute Path Regex for Go

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching unix absolute path, ported and verified for Go. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your Go project — whether you're validating in a Gin handler, a gRPC service, or a command-line tool.

Go Implementation

// Unix Absolute Path
// ReDoS-checked | RegexVault — Dev & Systems > File Paths

package validation

import "regexp"

var unixAbsolutePathRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^\/(?!.*\.\.\/)(?!.*\s)(?!.*\n)(?:[^\/\0]+\/?)*$`)

func ValidateUnixAbsolutePath(s string) bool {
    return unixAbsolutePathRe.MatchString(s)
}

// Example
// fmt.Println(ValidateUnixAbsolutePath("/")) // true

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Dev & Systems > File Paths category and has been checked for ReDoS risk. That matters for Go developers because Go's RE2 engine is inherently safe from catastrophic backtracking, but this pattern has been additionally verified for correctness. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

Intentionally restrictive: no spaces, control characters, or path traversal sequences. Use for validated inputs, not for parsing arbitrary filesystem paths which can contain almost any character except NUL.