Madara – Responsive and modern WordPress theme for manga sites <= 2.2.2 - Unauthenticated Local File Inclusion
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.2.2.1
- Affected Version
<= 2.2.2- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
- CVE
CVE-2025-4524
At a glance
CVE-2025-4524 is a critical-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the Madara WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 2.2.2. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.2.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2025, reported by Kyle Bouchard (ptrstr).
Vulnerability Overview
The Madara – Responsive and modern WordPress theme for manga sites theme for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.2 via the 'template' parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other “safe” file types can be uploaded and included.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Madara <= 2.2.2 carries this weakness at template, and reaching it takes no account at all. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.
Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For Madara the fix is 2.2.2.1: builds <= 2.2.2 are affected, anything from 2.2.2.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.2.2.1, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Madara 2.2.2.1 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C