CVE-2023-37385
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedImproper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in StylemixThemes Consulting allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Consulting: from n/a through 6.5.6.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in StylemixThemes Consulting theme versions up to 6.5.6 allows remote attackers to perform Local File Inclusion (LFI) attacks via improper validation of file path parameters, potentially exposing sensitive server files.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the Consulting theme installationSearch your web server's theme directory (commonly /wp-content/themes/consulting/ or similar) for the Consulting theme folder. If this is a WordPress site, check the themes directory; otherwise, check the application's theme path.Affected if The Consulting theme folder exists in your environment.
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Identify the installed theme versionOpen the main style.css or theme.json file within the Consulting theme folder and locate the version declaration in the theme header metadata. Compare this version number to 6.5.6.Affected if The reported version is 6.5.6 or any earlier version.
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Verify the vulnerable file inclusion functionality existsExamine the theme code for PHP files that accept file or path parameters (commonly functions like include, require, file_get_contents, or similar that use user-supplied values to load files). Look for parameters named similarly to 'file', 'path', 'template', or 'page'.Affected if The theme contains code that processes file path parameters without visible sanitization routines.
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Test for path traversal vulnerability (if accessible)If you can safely test, send an HTTP request to the suspected endpoint with a path traversal sequence (such as ../../../../etc/passwd or ..\..\..\windows\system32\config\sam) in the identified parameter. Check the response for file contents or error messages revealing server files.Affected if The application returns contents of files outside the theme directory or displays path-related errors revealing server internals.
Your environment is affected if the Consulting theme is installed and its version is 6.5.6 or earlier, and the vulnerable file path parameter functionality is exposed and processes unsanitized input.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Consulting theme to the latest patched version. If no patch is available, implement strict input validation and sanitization on all file path parameters, and consider deploying a WAF rule to block path traversal sequences (e.g., ../, ..\).
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-37385 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-37385 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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