Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-53453

High

Published: 18 December 2025

Published
18 December 2025
Modified
27 April 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-2025-53453 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Axiomthemes Hygia. 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-2025-53453 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, in the axiomthemes Hygia WordPress theme. This issue affects Hygia versions from n/a through 1.16, as documented with CWE-98. The vulnerability carries 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 high severity due to network accessibility and significant impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An unauthenticated attacker with network access can exploit this vulnerability despite high attack complexity and no required user interaction. Successful exploitation allows local file inclusion, potentially granting access to sensitive files or enabling further compromise such as code execution, aligning with the high impact metrics in the CVSS score.

The Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/hygia/vulnerability/wordpress-hygia-theme-1-16-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve details the local file inclusion vulnerability in the Hygia WordPress theme version 1.16, serving as a primary reference for practitioners to review mitigation guidance, such as theme updates or protective configurations.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in axiomthemes Hygia hygia allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Hygia: from n/a through <= 1.16.

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 →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
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?

Public-facing WordPress theme vulnerability enables exploitation (T1190); LFI facilitates reading local files for data collection (T1005) and file discovery (T1083).

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-58927Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58933Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58803Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58940Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58936Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58709Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58225Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-60048Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-53442Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58944Same vendor: Axiomthemes

Affected Assets

axiomthemes
hygia
≤ 1.16

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Remediating the known PHP Local File Inclusion flaw in the Hygia WordPress theme by applying vendor patches directly eliminates the vulnerability.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Validating filenames passed to PHP include/require statements prevents attackers from supplying malicious paths that enable local file inclusion.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match
prevent

Enforcing restrictive PHP configuration settings like open_basedir and allow_url_include=Off limits the scope of file access even if input validation fails.

References