{"id":44957,"date":"2025-05-28T15:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T15:07:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-27T08:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T14:15:11","slug":"cve-2025-4524-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-madara-wordpress-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4524-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-madara-wordpress-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-4524: Local File Inclusion Vulnerability in Madara WordPress Theme<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE-2025-4524 is a critical vulnerability residing in Madara &#8211; a responsive and modern WordPress theme for manga sites. This flaw poses a significant threat to all WordPress websites using versions up to, and including, 2.2.2 of the Madara theme. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit the &#8216;template&#8217; parameter, enabling them to include and execute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4391-wordpress-echo-rss-feed-post-generator-plugin-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"50853\">arbitrary files<\/a> on the server. This can potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4809-critical-vulnerability-in-tenda-ac7-router-leads-to-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"50617\">lead to system<\/a> compromise and data leakage, emphasizing the need for a swift and effective response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-4524<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical 9.8 (CVSS 3.0)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47576-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-bimber-viral-magazine-wordpress-theme\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"52143\">File Inclusion<\/a><br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-22190-critical-gitpython-vulnerability-exposes-windows-systems-to-potential-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"51376\">Potential system<\/a> compromise and data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2948987185\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p>Madara &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8592-wordpress-inspiro-theme-vulnerability-to-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"85391\">WordPress Theme<\/a> | Up to and including 2.2.2<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The exploit takes advantage of a Local File Inclusion (LFI) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-11267-sql-injection-vulnerability-in-jsp-store-locator-wordpress-plugin\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"50366\">vulnerability in the Madara WordPress<\/a> theme. Specifically, by manipulating the &#8216;template&#8217; parameter, an unauthenticated attacker can include and execute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4389-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability-in-wordpress-crawlomatic-multipage-scraper-post-generator-plugin\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"51089\">arbitrary server-side files<\/a>. As a result, any PHP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-47916-critical-remote-code-execution-vulnerability-in-invision-community-5-0-0\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"50406\">code in those files will be executed<\/a>, potentially bypassing access controls, revealing sensitive data, or running malicious code. This becomes particularly dangerous if the server allows uploading of images or other ostensibly &#8216;safe&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-41075-high-risk-type-confusion-vulnerability-allowing-arbitrary-code-execution-with-kernel-privileges\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"51567\">file<\/a> types that can be used to disguise PHP code.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-1390633117\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a conceptual example of how the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4827-critical-buffer-overflow-vulnerability-in-totolink-http-post-request-handler\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"51090\">vulnerability might be exploited using a malicious HTTP request:<\/a><\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">GET \/wp-content\/themes\/madara\/template.php?template=..\/..\/..\/..\/uploads\/malicious.php HTTP\/1.1\nHost: vulnerablewebsite.com<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this example, the attacker requests the template.php file but manipulates the &#8216;template&#8217; parameter to point to a malicious PHP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-5012-arbitrary-file-upload-vulnerability-in-the-workreap-plugin-for-wordpress\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"61321\">file they&#8217;ve uploaded<\/a> to the server.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To remediate this vulnerability, apply the vendor patch as soon as it is available. In the meantime, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation. Ensure that these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2022-43110-critical-unauthenticated-remote-system-configuration-vulnerability-in-voltronic-power-viewpower-powershield-netguard\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"83155\">systems are configured<\/a> to block or alert on attempts to manipulate the &#8216;template&#8217; parameter in requests to your server.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview CVE-2025-4524 is a critical vulnerability residing in Madara &#8211; a responsive and modern WordPress theme for manga sites. This flaw poses a significant threat to all WordPress websites using versions up to, and including, 2.2.2 of the Madara theme. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit the &#8216;template&#8217; parameter, enabling them to include and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[],"product":[],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-44957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44957"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78181,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44957\/revisions\/78181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=44957"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=44957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}