CVE-2025-4524: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

The Madara WordPress theme for manga sites contains a Local File Inclusion vulnerability (CVE-2025-4524) discovered on May 21, 2025. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.2.2 and allows unauthenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary files on the server through the 'template' parameter (NVD, Wiz).

The vulnerability exists in the template parameter handling functionality of the Madara theme, which fails to properly restrict file inclusion operations. This allows attackers to include and execute any PHP code present in files on the server. The vulnerability has received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating a highly severe security issue that requires no special privileges or user interaction to exploit (Wordfence).

The vulnerability can be exploited to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, and achieve code execution on the affected server. This is particularly dangerous in cases where attackers can upload and include seemingly safe file types like images that contain malicious PHP code (NVD).

Website administrators running the Madara theme should immediately update to version 2.2.2.1 or newer, which was released on May 27, 2025, and specifically addresses this security issue (Manga Theme).