CVE-2025-31069
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 · uneditedDeserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in themeton HotStar – Multi-Purpose Business Theme allows Object Injection. This issue affects HotStar – Multi-Purpose Business Theme: from n/a through 1.4.
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 confidenceThis is a PHP Object Injection vulnerability in the HotStar WordPress theme caused by unsafe deserialization (unserialize()) of untrusted data. Attackers can craft malicious serialized PHP objects to achieve remote code execution, file manipulation, or database compromise. The vulnerability affects all versions through 1.4.
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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Identify HotStar theme installationCheck wp-content/themes/hotstar/style.css header for 'Version:' line, or query via WordPress admin Appearance > Themes, or list theme directory: ls wp-content/themes/Affected if HotStar theme is not installed - not affected
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Determine theme versionRead the version number from style.css or theme functions.php, then compare against any official changelogs or release notes for the themeAffected if No patch version is available or the theme is outdated - potentially affected
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Locate unserialize() callsSearch theme files for unserialize() usage: grep -r "unserialize" wp-content/themes/hotstar/ --include="*.php"Affected if No unserialize() calls found - likely not vulnerable to this specific flaw
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Verify user input reaches unserialize()Examine the context of found unserialize() calls - trace if $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE, or database values flow into the unserialize() functionAffected if Untrusted data reaches unserialize() without validation - vulnerable to PHP Object Injection
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Review installed plugins for gadget chainsAudit active plugins for PHP classes with magic methods (__wakeup, __destruct, __toString, __invoke) that could form exploit chainsAffected if Plugins contain exploitable gadget chains - risk of RCE is significantly higher
Environment is affected if HotStar theme is installed AND it contains unserialize() calls that process user-controlled data without sanitization.
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 dataReplace unsafe unserialize() calls with json_decode() for data transport, or implement strict allowlist validation if deserialization is required. Audit the theme for additional insecure deserialization points.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-31069 — 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-2025-31069 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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