CVE-2022-40089: Simple College Website · A Remote File Inclusion (RFI)
Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC
- EPSS
- 2.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 85% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Sep 2022
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should first verify and disable the PHP directive allow_url_include by setting it to Off in the php.ini configuration file, as this is the primary enabler of the RFI attack vector. This change significantly reduces the risk of remote file inclusion attacks. Organizations should also audit their web applications to ensure no user input is directly used in file inclusion functions without proper validation or sanitization. If possible, upgrade or replace Simple College Website v1.0 with a more secure and actively maintained solution. Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block suspicious file inclusion attempts. Regularly monitor web server logs for unusual requests that may indicate exploitation attempts. Conduct security assessments and penetration testing focused on file inclusion vulnerabilities. Finally, maintain a robust incident response plan to quickly contain and remediate any exploitation.
Description
A remote file inclusion (RFI) vulnerability in Simple College Website v1.0 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted PHP file. This vulnerability is exploitable when the directive allow_url_include is set to On.
References
- sourcecodester.com/php/14548/simple-college-website-using-htmlphpmysqli-source-code.html (opens in a new tab)
- sourcecodester.com/sites/default/files/download/oretnom23/simple-college-website.zip (opens in a new tab)
- gowthamaraj-rajendran.medium.com/simple-college-website-1-0-rfi-cff8d827572e (opens in a new tab)