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

CVE-2025-60197

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 owenr88 Simple Contact Forms simple-contact-forms allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Simple Contact Forms: from n/a through <= 1.6.4.

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 · high confidence

A PHP Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability exists in the simple-contact-forms plugin where user-supplied input is improperly used in include/require statements without adequate validation. This allows attackers to include arbitrary PHP files from the server, potentially leading to remote code execution.

MitigationImplement strict input validation using an allowlist approach and sanitize all file path parameters before use in include/require statements. Replace dynamic file inclusion with static includes or implement a whitelist of permitted 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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm simple-contact-forms plugin is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) or use WP-CLI: wp plugin list --name=simple-contact-forms to list the plugin and its version.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version matches the affected version range for this CVE.
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Read the main plugin file (simple-contact-forms.php) header comment which contains the Version field, or query the WordPress database: SELECT option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'simple_contact_forms_version' or similar.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable version range for CVE-2025-60197.
  3. Locate dynamic file inclusion code
    Search the plugin source code for include, require, include_once, or require_once statements that use variables or request parameters (e.g., $_GET, $_POST) without proper sanitization. Use grep or a code search tool on the plugin directory.
    Affected if The plugin contains include/require statements using unsanitized user input from GET or POST parameters.
  4. Verify the vulnerable parameter is accessible
    Check if the plugin exposes any front-end or admin pages that accept file path parameters (commonly via 'file', 'page', 'template', 'path', or similar query parameters) and pass them directly to include/require.
    Affected if The vulnerable parameter is accessible via HTTP request without authentication or with low-privilege user access.
  5. Inspect input validation logic
    Review the code around the include/require statements to determine if there is any validation, sanitization, or allowlist checking performed on the input before being used.
    Affected if No allowlist, sanitization, or validation is performed on the file path parameter before it is used in include/require.

A user is affected if the simple-contact-forms plugin is installed with a vulnerable version and the plugin exposes dynamic file inclusion functionality using unsanitized user-supplied input.

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 using an allowlist approach and sanitize all file path parameters before use in include/require statements. Replace dynamic file inclusion with static includes or implement a whitelist of permitted files.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2025-60197 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
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