CVE-2026-28059
Published: 05 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-28059 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 38.1th 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 CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Remediating the specific PHP Local File Inclusion flaw in the Dermatology Clinic WordPress theme prevents unauthenticated attackers from including arbitrary local files.
Validating filenames used in PHP include/require statements directly mitigates CWE-98 by ensuring only authorized, safe paths are processed.
Enforcing secure PHP configuration settings, such as open_basedir restrictions, limits the scope of local file access even if improper includes occur.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
LFI vulnerability in public-facing WordPress theme directly enables T1190 (exploit public-facing application), facilitates T1005 (data from local system via arbitrary file read), and T1552.001 (credentials in files like wp-config.php).
NVD Description
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in ThemeREX Dermatology Clinic dermatology-clinic allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Dermatology Clinic: from n/a through <= 1.4.3.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-28059 is an Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program vulnerability, classified under CWE-98, that enables PHP Local File Inclusion in the ThemeREX Dermatology Clinic WordPress theme. This issue affects all versions of the theme from n/a through 1.4.3. Published on 2026-03-05, 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), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact despite elevated complexity.
Unauthenticated attackers (PR:N) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) without user interaction (UI:N), though it requires high attack complexity (AC:H). Successful exploitation allows arbitrary local file inclusion, leading to high confidentiality (C:H), integrity (I:H), and availability (A:H) impacts, such as reading sensitive files or potentially executing code if exploitable files are accessible on the server.
Patchstack advisories provide details on the vulnerability in the Dermatology Clinic theme version 1.4.3, including mitigation guidance available at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/dermatology-clinic/vulnerability/wordpress-dermatology-clinic-theme-1-4-3-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.
Details
- CWE(s)