CVE-2026-28056
Published: 05 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-28056 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-28056 is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, classified under CWE-98 and labeled as a PHP Remote File Inclusion issue that enables PHP Local File Inclusion, in the ThemeREX MCKinney's Politics WordPress theme (mckinney-politics). This flaw affects all versions from n/a through 1.2.8. The vulnerability was published on 2026-03-05 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), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact.
The vulnerability can be exploited by unauthenticated attackers over the network, though it requires high attack complexity and no user interaction. Successful exploitation allows attackers to achieve high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts, potentially enabling local file inclusion that could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive files or further compromise depending on the included content.
Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/mckinney-politics/vulnerability/wordpress-mckinney-s-politics-theme-1-2-8-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-9716
Vulnerability details
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in ThemeREX MCKinney's Politics mckinney-politics allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects MCKinney's Politics: from n/a through <= 1.2.8.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
CVE-2026-28056 is a Local File Inclusion vulnerability in a public-facing WordPress theme, directly enabling exploitation of a public-facing application for potential remote code execution.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly mitigates CVE-2026-28056 by identifying, reporting, and correcting the PHP Local File Inclusion flaw in the MCKinney's Politics WordPress theme through patching.
Prevents exploitation of the improper filename control in PHP include/require by validating all user-supplied inputs for malicious paths or filenames.
Restricts information inputs to safe, whitelisted filenames and paths for PHP include/require statements, blocking unauthorized local file inclusion attempts.