CVE-2025-2158
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 · uneditedThe WordPress Review Plugin: The Ultimate Solution for Building a Review Website plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 5.3.5 via the Post custom fields. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, 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 PHP file types can be uploaded and included, or pearcmd is enabled on a server with register_argc_argv also enabled.
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 · high confidenceLocal File Inclusion vulnerability in the WordPress Review Plugin (versions up to 5.3.5) allows authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to include and execute arbitrary files via Post custom fields, leading to remote code execution.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Confirm WordPress Review Plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins and look for 'Review Plugin' or search for 'reviews' in the plugin list. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for folders containing 'review' in the name.Affected if The Review Plugin is found in the WordPress installation
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Identify the installed version of the Review PluginIn the WordPress admin > Plugins page, find the Review Plugin and view its details to see the version number. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file for a 'Version' header comment in the plugin metadata.Affected if The installed version is 5.3.5 or any earlier version (versions up to and including 5.3.5 are vulnerable)
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Check for user accounts with Contributor-level access or higherIn WordPress admin > Users, review the list of users and their assigned roles. Contributor, Author, Editor, and Administrator roles all have the required access level for exploitation.Affected if There is at least one user account with Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrator role (even a low-privilege account can exploit this)
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Verify Post custom fields functionality is accessibleIn WordPress admin, go to any post > Custom Fields panel (may require enabling in Screen Options). Check if custom fields can be created and saved for posts.Affected if Custom fields are enabled and can be modified by users with Contributor-level access or higher
A user is affected if the Review Plugin version is 5.3.5 or earlier AND there exists at least one user with Contributor-level or higher access who can create or modify Post custom fields.
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 the plugin to version 5.3.6 or later. If no update is available, remove the plugin. Additionally, disable PHP execution in upload directories and review server configuration for dangerous settings like pearcmd with register_argc_argv.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-2158 — 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-2025-2158 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data