CVE-2025-49369: 
WordPress vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-49369 is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the Lettuce WordPress theme developed by AncoraThemes. Classified under CWE-98 (Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program), it allows unauthenticated remote attackers to include arbitrary local files on the server. All versions of the Lettuce theme up to and including 1.1.7 are affected. The vulnerability was published on December 18, 2025, and assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High) (Feedly, Patchstack).

The root cause is improper validation and sanitization of user-supplied input used in PHP include/require statements within the Lettuce theme (CWE-98). An attacker can manipulate a filename parameter passed to a PHP file inclusion function, causing the application to include arbitrary files from the local filesystem. No authentication or user interaction is required, though the attack complexity is rated High, suggesting specific conditions or knowledge may be needed to reliably exploit it. The vulnerability maps to CAPEC-193 (PHP Remote File Inclusion) but manifests as Local File Inclusion in practice (Feedly).

Successful exploitation can result in high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts on the affected WordPress installation. An attacker could read sensitive server files such as WordPress configuration files (wp-config.php) containing database credentials, potentially enabling lateral movement to the underlying database or hosting environment. In certain server configurations, LFI can be chained with other techniques (e.g., log poisoning) to achieve remote code execution, fully compromising the WordPress site (Feedly).

As of the time of publication, there is no known public proof-of-concept exploit and no evidence of active in-the-wild exploitation (Feedly). The EPSS score is approximately 0.053%, indicating a low current probability of exploitation in the near term. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. No threat actor attribution has been reported.

1. Reconnaissance: Identify WordPress sites using the Lettuce theme (version ≤ 1.1.7) via passive techniques such as HTTP response headers, HTML source inspection, or tools like WPScan.
2. Identify vulnerable parameter: Locate the theme's PHP file inclusion point — a parameter that accepts a filename or path and passes it unsanitized to a PHP include/require statement.
3. Craft malicious request: Send an HTTP request with a manipulated filename parameter using path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../etc/passwd or ../../../../wp-config.php) to reference sensitive local files.
4. Retrieve sensitive data: If successful, the server response will contain the contents of the targeted file, such as database credentials from wp-config.php or system user information from /etc/passwd.
5. Escalate (optional): Chain the LFI with log poisoning or other techniques to inject PHP code into a server-readable log file and achieve remote code execution (Feedly).

• Network: Unusual HTTP GET or POST requests to theme PHP files containing path traversal sequences (e.g., ../, ..%2F, %2e%2e%2f) in query parameters.
• Logs: WordPress or web server access logs showing requests with encoded traversal patterns targeting theme files; repeated 200 responses to requests with suspicious filename parameters.
• File System: Unexpected access to sensitive files such as wp-config.php, /etc/passwd, or server log files by the web server process.
• Process: Web server processes (e.g., Apache, Nginx, PHP-FPM) spawning unexpected child processes, which may indicate successful escalation to code execution via log poisoning.

The primary remediation is to update the Lettuce WordPress theme to a version beyond 1.1.7, which addresses the improper file inclusion handling (Patchstack). If an immediate update is not possible, administrators should implement strict server-side input validation and use allowlisting for any permitted file inclusion paths. Additionally, applying the principle of least privilege to the web server process and disabling PHP's allow_url_include directive can reduce the attack surface. Regularly auditing installed themes and plugins for known vulnerabilities is also recommended.