CVE-2025-60065: Axiomthemes Pinevale Path Traversal Flaw

CVE-2025-60065 Overview

CVE-2025-60065 is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability affecting the Axiomthemes Pinevale WordPress theme through version 1.0.14. The flaw stems from improper control of filenames passed to PHP include or require statements [CWE-98]. Unauthenticated attackers can manipulate file path parameters to load arbitrary local files within the PHP execution context. Successful exploitation can disclose sensitive configuration data, expose credentials in wp-config.php, and in some cases enable remote code execution through log poisoning or session file inclusion.

Critical Impact

Network-reachable, unauthenticated file inclusion that can lead to confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise on affected WordPress sites.

Affected Products

• Axiomthemes Pinevale WordPress theme versions up to and including 1.0.14
• WordPress installations using the vulnerable Pinevale theme
• Sites where the theme's vulnerable include logic is reachable without authentication

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-12-18 - CVE CVE-2025-60065 published to NVD
• 2026-04-27 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-60065

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Pinevale theme's handling of user-supplied input passed to PHP file inclusion functions. The theme accepts a parameter that is concatenated into a path used by include, require, include_once, or require_once. Because the input is not validated against an allowlist or sanitized to remove path traversal sequences, attackers can reference arbitrary files on the server filesystem.

The classification under [CWE-98] (Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement) places this in the PHP Remote File Inclusion family, though the practical exploitation here is local inclusion. The attack complexity is elevated because exploitation typically requires specific server configuration or knowledge of valid file paths, but no privileges or user interaction are required.

Root Cause

The theme dereferences a request-controlled value into a PHP include path without sanitization. Standard hardening such as basename() filtering, allowlists of permitted templates, or realpath() containment checks against the theme directory are absent in versions through 1.0.14.

Attack Vector

An attacker issues an HTTP request to a vulnerable Pinevale endpoint with a crafted parameter referencing a local file using directory traversal sequences such as ../../../../wp-config.php. The PHP interpreter loads and executes the targeted file in the application context. Common post-exploitation paths include reading wp-config.php to extract database credentials and authentication keys, including PHP session files seeded with attacker-controlled content, or including poisoned log files to achieve code execution.

Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability advisory for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-60065

Indicators of Compromise

• HTTP requests to Pinevale theme endpoints containing path traversal sequences such as ../, ..%2f, or encoded null bytes
• Web server access logs showing parameter values referencing wp-config.php, /etc/passwd, /proc/self/environ, or PHP session paths
• Unexpected PHP errors referencing include() or require() with attacker-controlled paths in error_log
• Outbound connections or new admin users created shortly after suspicious inclusion requests

Detection Strategies

• Inspect WordPress and web server logs for query parameters containing traversal patterns targeting theme files under wp-content/themes/pinevale/
• Deploy WAF rules that flag inclusion-style parameters with filesystem path values or traversal encodings
• Monitor PHP runtime logs for include warnings referencing files outside the theme directory
• Correlate file-read anomalies with subsequent authentication or privilege-escalation events in WordPress

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose access logging on WordPress front-end requests and retain logs for forensic review
• Track integrity of wp-config.php and theme files using file integrity monitoring
• Alert on first-seen User-Agents or source IPs issuing requests to Pinevale theme paths with non-standard parameters

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-60065

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify all WordPress sites running the Pinevale theme and confirm installed version against 1.0.14
• Disable or remove the Pinevale theme until a fixed version is confirmed installed
• Rotate WordPress salts, database credentials, and any API keys stored in wp-config.php if exploitation is suspected
• Review administrative accounts and scheduled tasks for unauthorized additions

Patch Information

No vendor-fixed version is listed in the available CVE data. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the Axiomthemes vendor channel for an updated release that supersedes 1.0.14.

Workarounds

• Place virtual patching rules at the WAF to block requests containing path traversal sequences targeting theme parameters
• Restrict PHP open_basedir to confine file inclusion to the WordPress installation directory
• Set allow_url_include=Off and allow_url_fopen=Off in php.ini to reduce exposure to inclusion abuse
• Apply least-privilege filesystem permissions so the PHP user cannot read sensitive system files

# Example php.ini hardening
allow_url_include = Off
allow_url_fopen = Off
open_basedir = "/var/www/html:/tmp"