Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-60046

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 0.0042 32.9th percentile
Risk Priority 16 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-60046 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability in Axiomthemes Heartstar. 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 32.9th 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-2025-60046, published on 2025-12-18, is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, known as PHP Remote File Inclusion, that enables PHP Local File Inclusion in the HeartStar WordPress theme by axiomthemes. This issue affects HeartStar versions from n/a through 1.0.14 and is associated 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.

Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network without authentication or user interaction, though it requires high attack complexity. No privileges are needed, allowing unauthenticated remote actors to perform local file inclusion, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive files, code execution, or further system compromise depending on the included files and server configuration.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/heartstar/vulnerability/wordpress-heartstar-theme-1-0-14-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 axiomthemes HeartStar heartstar allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects HeartStar: from n/a through <= 1.0.14.

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?

CVE-2025-60046 is a PHP Local File Inclusion vulnerability in a public-facing WordPress theme, directly enabling remote exploitation of a public-facing web application for unauthorized file access and potential code execution.

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

CVEs Like This One

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-2025-58950Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-53446Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-60064Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-53445Same vendor: Axiomthemes
CVE-2025-58928Same vendor: Axiomthemes

Affected Assets

axiomthemes
heartstar
≤ 1.0.14

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly remediates the specific PHP Local File Inclusion flaw in HeartStar WordPress theme versions through <=1.0.14 by applying vendor patches or updates.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Validates user-supplied filenames in PHP include/require statements to block malicious local file inclusion paths.

CM-6 Configuration Settings partial match
prevent

Enforces secure PHP configuration settings like open_basedir restrictions to limit file access and mitigate LFI exploitation.

References