CVE-2025-68901
Published: 22 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-68901 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 5.8th 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).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly mitigates CVE-2025-68901 by remediating the path traversal flaw through timely patching or updating of the vulnerable Anona WordPress theme.
Prevents path traversal exploitation by validating and sanitizing pathname inputs to restrict access to authorized directories only.
Deploys boundary protection such as web application firewalls to inspect and block network requests containing path traversal payloads targeting the WordPress theme.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Path traversal in public-facing WordPress theme directly enables remote exploitation (T1190) and arbitrary file deletion for availability impact (T1485).
NVD Description
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in AivahThemes Anona anona allows Path Traversal.This issue affects Anona: from n/a through <= 8.0.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2025-68901 is an Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability, corresponding to CWE-22, in the AivahThemes Anona WordPress theme. This issue affects Anona versions from an unspecified starting point through 8.0 inclusive. Published on 2026-01-22, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H), highlighting its high severity due to network accessibility, low attack complexity, and significant availability impact.
Unauthenticated remote attackers (PR:N) can exploit this vulnerability over the network (AV:N) without user interaction (UI:N) and with low complexity (AC:L). Exploitation enables path traversal, resulting in arbitrary file deletion within the affected WordPress installation. The changed scope (S:C) amplifies the impact, potentially causing high disruption to availability (A:H) such as site downtime, while confidentiality (C:N) and integrity (I:N) remain unaffected.
The primary advisory from Patchstack documents this as an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability specifically in Anona theme version 8.0, available at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/anona/vulnerability/wordpress-anona-theme-8-0-arbitrary-file-deletion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve. Mitigation guidance is provided in the advisory, focusing on addressing the path traversal flaw in the theme.
Details
- CWE(s)