Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-54700

High

Published: 14 August 2025

Published
14 August 2025
Modified
23 April 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
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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 0.0055 68.3th percentile
Risk Priority 17 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-54700 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Thememove Makeaholic. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 31.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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-2025-54700 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 ThemeMove Makeaholic WordPress theme. The issue affects Makeaholic versions from n/a through 1.8.4 and is associated with CWE-98. Published on 2025-08-14, it carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

A network-based attacker requires no privileges or user interaction but must overcome high attack complexity to exploit the vulnerability remotely. Successful exploitation grants high-impact access to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing arbitrary local file inclusion.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/makeaholic/vulnerability/wordpress-makeaholic-theme-1-8-4-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in ThemeMove Makeaholic makeaholic allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Makeaholic: from n/a through <= 1.8.4.

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 →
Why these techniques?

Direct LFI vulnerability in public-facing WordPress theme enables remote exploitation of the web application.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-22708Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-14430Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-59555Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-14429Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-22707Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-58958Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-54701Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-58206Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-60069Same vendor: Thememove
CVE-2025-59564Same vendor: Thememove

Affected Assets

thememove
makeaholic
≤ 1.8.5

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly mitigates CVE-2025-54700 by requiring identification, reporting, and timely patching or replacement of the vulnerable Makeaholic WordPress theme versions through 1.8.4.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Prevents exploitation of the PHP Local File Inclusion vulnerability by enforcing validation of user-supplied filenames used in include/require statements to reject arbitrary paths.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match
prevent

Hardens PHP and web server configurations with restrictive settings like open_basedir to limit file access paths exploitable by the improper filename control in the Makeaholic theme.

References