CVE-2025-32668: Real Estate Manager LFI Vulnerability

CVE-2025-32668 Overview

CVE-2025-32668 is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the Real Estate Manager WordPress plugin developed by Rameez Iqbal. The vulnerability stems from improper control of filename for include/require statements in PHP, allowing attackers to include local files on the server. This can lead to sensitive information disclosure, server compromise, and potentially remote code execution when combined with other attack techniques.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this PHP Local File Inclusion vulnerability to read sensitive server files, potentially exposing configuration data, credentials, and enabling further system compromise.

Affected Products

• Real Estate Manager WordPress Plugin versions up to and including 7.3
• WordPress installations running vulnerable versions of the real-estate-manager plugin

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-04-10 - CVE-2025-32668 published to NVD
• 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-32668

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-98 (Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program). The Real Estate Manager plugin fails to properly validate and sanitize user-supplied input before using it in PHP include or require statements. This allows an attacker to manipulate the file path parameter to include arbitrary local files from the server's filesystem.

Local File Inclusion vulnerabilities in PHP applications are particularly dangerous because they can be leveraged to read sensitive configuration files like wp-config.php, access log files that may contain session tokens, or even achieve remote code execution through techniques such as log poisoning or PHP filter chain exploitation.

The attack can be conducted over the network without requiring any authentication or user interaction, though the complexity of successful exploitation is considered high due to the need for specific conditions to be met.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability lies in the plugin's failure to implement proper input validation and sanitization for file path parameters used in PHP include() or require() statements. The plugin accepts user-controlled input that directly influences which file is included, without adequately restricting the allowed paths or filenames.

Proper mitigation would require implementing a whitelist of allowed files, using basename() to strip directory traversal sequences, and ensuring the resolved path stays within the expected directory.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted over the network (AV:N) and requires no authentication (PR:N) or user interaction (UI:N). An attacker crafts a malicious HTTP request containing a manipulated file path parameter. By using directory traversal sequences such as ../ or PHP wrappers like php://filter, the attacker can navigate outside the intended directory and include sensitive files from the server.

The exploitation complexity is considered high (AC:H), suggesting that specific conditions must be met or additional techniques may be required for successful exploitation. However, once exploited, the impact affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability at high levels.

A typical attack would involve manipulating a vulnerable parameter to traverse directories and include files such as /etc/passwd or wp-config.php. The vulnerability may also be chained with other techniques like log poisoning to achieve remote code execution.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-32668

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to the Real Estate Manager plugin endpoints containing directory traversal sequences (../, ..%2f, ..%252f)
• Requests containing PHP wrapper schemes such as php://filter, php://input, or data://
• Unusual access to sensitive files like wp-config.php, /etc/passwd, or log files through web requests
• Error logs showing failed file inclusion attempts or unexpected file access patterns

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block requests containing directory traversal patterns targeting the Real Estate Manager plugin
• Monitor web server access logs for requests to the plugin directory containing suspicious path manipulation characters
• Deploy intrusion detection signatures that identify LFI attack patterns in HTTP traffic
• Utilize SentinelOne's application control capabilities to monitor for unusual file access patterns by the PHP process

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging for the WordPress installation and monitor for PHP include/require errors
• Configure file integrity monitoring for sensitive WordPress files including wp-config.php
• Set up alerting for any access to the Real Estate Manager plugin from unexpected IP ranges or with unusual request patterns
• Monitor PHP process behavior for attempts to read files outside the web root directory

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-32668

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Real Estate Manager plugin to a patched version as soon as one becomes available
• If no patch is available, consider temporarily disabling the Real Estate Manager plugin until a fix is released
• Implement Web Application Firewall rules to block directory traversal and LFI attack patterns
• Review server logs for any signs of attempted or successful exploitation

Patch Information

A patched version addressing this vulnerability should be obtained from the official WordPress plugin repository or the vendor. Organizations should monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for updates on remediation status and patch availability.

Affected versions include Real Estate Manager version 7.3 and earlier. Verify your installed version through the WordPress admin panel under Plugins.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable the Real Estate Manager plugin if it is not critical to operations
• Implement server-level access controls to restrict the web server user's ability to read sensitive files
• Configure PHP's open_basedir directive to restrict file access to the WordPress directory
• Deploy a WAF with rules specifically designed to detect and block Local File Inclusion attacks

# WordPress plugin management - disable vulnerable plugin
wp plugin deactivate real-estate-manager

# Verify plugin status
wp plugin list --status=active | grep real-estate-manager

# PHP open_basedir configuration (add to php.ini or .htaccess)
# open_basedir = /var/www/html:/tmp