Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-53442

High

Published: 18 December 2025

Published
18 December 2025
Modified
20 January 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
—
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0044 35.2th percentile
Risk Priority 16 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-53442 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Axiomthemes Rentic. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 35.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-53442 is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, classified as PHP Remote File Inclusion but enabling PHP Local File Inclusion, affecting the Rentic WordPress theme developed by axiomthemes. The issue impacts all versions of Rentic from n/a through 1.1.

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating exploitation over the network by unauthenticated attackers with high attack complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploits can result in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing attackers to read local files or escalate to further compromise.

Patchstack's advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/rentic/vulnerability/wordpress-rentic-theme-1-1-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve documents the Local File Inclusion vulnerability in the Rentic WordPress theme version 1.1.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in axiomthemes Rentic rentic allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Rentic: from n/a through <= 1.1.

CWE(s)
CWE-98

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

LFI vulnerability in public-facing WordPress theme enables exploitation of public-facing application (T1190) and arbitrary local file reads, facilitating file and directory discovery (T1083).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-60050Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58927Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58933Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-53453Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58935Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-60061Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-60063Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58889Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-53449Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58803Same vendor: Axiomthemes

Affected Assets

axiomthemes
rentic
≤ 1.1

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

SI-10 requires validation of filenames passed to PHP include/require statements, directly preventing local file inclusion by rejecting malicious paths.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

SI-2 mandates timely identification, reporting, and patching of flaws like this LFI vulnerability in the Rentic WordPress theme.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match
prevent

CM-6 enforces secure PHP configuration settings such as open_basedir restrictions or disabling allow_url_include to limit file access paths exploited in this LFI.

References