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PHP File Inclusion (RFI/LFI)Weakness · CWE-98

CVE-2025-31387

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in InstaWP InstaWP Connect instawp-connect allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects InstaWP Connect: from n/a through <= 0.1.0.82.

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 confidence

This is a PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in InstaWP Connect plugin. The vulnerability allows attackers to control the filename parameter in PHP include/require statements, potentially enabling remote code execution by including malicious PHP files.

MitigationImplement strict input validation on all file inclusion parameters, use whitelist-based file allowed-listing, and employ basename() or realpath() to prevent directory traversal attacks.

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify InstaWP Connect plugin is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory or wp-content/plugins/instawp-connect folder for the plugin files. Look for the main plugin file (typically instawp-connect.php) and inspect its header comment for the version number.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version falls within the vulnerable range (if known) or is unpatched.
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file and locate the 'Version' field in the plugin header comment at the top of the file. Alternatively, check the WordPress admin plugins page for the installed version.
    Affected if The version number is lower than the patched version for this CVE.
  3. Determine if file inclusion endpoints are web-accessible
    Search the plugin source code for PHP functions that handle include, require, include_once, or require_once. Identify the request parameters used (typically 'filename' or similar). Check if these endpoints respond to HTTP requests without authentication.
    Affected if The vulnerable file inclusion code is accessible via web requests without proper access controls.
  4. Inspect server access logs for suspicious file inclusion patterns
    Review web server access logs (Apache access.log, Nginx access.log) for requests containing the vulnerable parameter name with directory traversal sequences (../) or file paths pointing to non-PHP files.
    Affected if Logs show requests to the vulnerable endpoint with user-controlled file paths, especially traversal patterns.
  5. Check for malicious files in accessible directories
    Examine directories that the plugin code might include files from (typically the plugin directory, wp-content, or upload directories). Look for any recently created PHP files with suspicious content or encoded payloads.
    Affected if Unexpected PHP files exist in directories accessible to the include function, indicating potential exploitation.

A user is affected if InstaWP Connect plugin is installed with a vulnerable version and the file inclusion functionality is accessible without proper validation of the filename parameter.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict input validation on all file inclusion parameters, use whitelist-based file allowed-listing, and employ basename() or realpath() to prevent directory traversal attacks.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-31387 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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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