CVE-2026-28049
Published: 05 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-28049 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 32.0th 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 CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-28049 is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, described as a PHP Remote File Inclusion issue that enables PHP Local File Inclusion, affecting the ThemeREX Police Department WordPress theme. This flaw impacts all versions from n/a through 2.17 inclusive. Published on 2026-03-05T06:16:38.013, it 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) and maps to CWE-98.
The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker (PR:N) without requiring user interaction (UI:N), though it demands high attack complexity (AC:H). Successful exploitation grants high impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), allowing the inclusion of local files on the server.
The Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/police-department/vulnerability/wordpress-police-department-theme-2-17-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve provides details on this WordPress theme vulnerability, including mitigation guidance such as updating to a version beyond 2.17.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-9709
Vulnerability details
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in ThemeREX Police Department police-department allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Police Department: from n/a through <= 2.17.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
CVE-2026-28049 is a local file inclusion vulnerability in a public-facing WordPress theme, exploitable over the network by unauthenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary local files, directly mapping to T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application.
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Timely remediation through patching the vulnerable ThemeREX Police Department WordPress theme versions <=2.17 directly eliminates the PHP Local File Inclusion vulnerability.
Validating and sanitizing user-supplied filenames before use in PHP include/require statements prevents exploitation of improper filename control leading to local file inclusion.
Enforcing secure PHP configuration settings such as open_basedir restrictions or disabling allow_url_include prevents unauthorized file access via inclusion vulnerabilities.