diff --git a/github/repos_contents.go b/github/repos_contents.go
index be58fd52f66..874a3277283 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents.go
@@ -192,8 +192,15 @@ func (s *RepositoriesService) DownloadContentsWithMeta(ctx context.Context, owne
 // as possible, both result types will be returned but only one will contain a
 // value and the other will be nil.
 //
+// Due to an auth vulnerability issue in the GitHub v3 API, ".." is not allowed
+// to appear anywhere in the "path" or this method will return an error.
+//
 // GitHub API docs: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/repos/contents#get-repository-content
 func (s *RepositoriesService) GetContents(ctx context.Context, owner, repo, path string, opts *RepositoryContentGetOptions) (fileContent *RepositoryContent, directoryContent []*RepositoryContent, resp *Response, err error) {
+	if strings.Contains(path, "..") {
+		return nil, nil, nil, errors.New("path must not contain '..' due to auth vulnerability issue")
+	}
+
 	escapedPath := (&url.URL{Path: strings.TrimSuffix(path, "/")}).String()
 	u := fmt.Sprintf("repos/%s/%s/contents/%s", owner, repo, escapedPath)
 	u, err = addOptions(u, opts)
diff --git a/github/repos_contents_test.go b/github/repos_contents_test.go
index 29262ce2db1..295c21684cd 100644
--- a/github/repos_contents_test.go
+++ b/github/repos_contents_test.go
@@ -465,6 +465,20 @@ func TestRepositoriesService_GetContents_DirectoryWithSpaces(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRepositoriesService_GetContents_PathWithParent(t *testing.T) {
+	client, mux, _, teardown := setup()
+	defer teardown()
+	mux.HandleFunc("/repos/o/r/contents/some/../directory/file.go", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		testMethod(t, r, "GET")
+		fmt.Fprint(w, `{}`)
+	})
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	_, _, _, err := client.Repositories.GetContents(ctx, "o", "r", "some/../directory/file.go", &RepositoryContentGetOptions{})
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Repositories.GetContents expected error but got none")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRepositoriesService_GetContents_DirectoryWithPlusChars(t *testing.T) {
 	client, mux, _, teardown := setup()
 	defer teardown()