CVE-2025-68545

High

Published: 20 February 2026

Published

20 February 2026

Modified

27 April 2026

KEV Added

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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 0.0050 39.1th percentile

Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-68545 is a high-severity PHP Remote File Inclusion (CWE-98) vulnerability. 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 39.1th 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-2025-68545 is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, classified as a PHP Remote File Inclusion issue that enables PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI), affecting the Nika WordPress theme by thembay. This flaw impacts Nika versions from n/a through 1.2.14 and is associated with CWE-98. The vulnerability was published on 2026-02-20 with 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).

Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network without user interaction, though it requires high attack complexity. Successful exploitation grants high-impact access to local files on the server, potentially compromising confidentiality by reading sensitive data, integrity by modifying included files, and availability through disruption, enabling severe server-side compromise.

Patchstack has documented this Local File Inclusion vulnerability specifically in WordPress Nika theme version 1.2.14, with details available at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/nika/vulnerability/wordpress-nika-theme-1-2-14-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability-2?_s_id=cve.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-207923

Vulnerability details

Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in thembay Nika nika allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Nika: from n/a through <= 1.2.14.

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 →

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 LFI vulnerability in WordPress theme exploited via T1190 enables arbitrary local file reads (T1005, T1083) for data collection and discovery.

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