CVE-2026-22437
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 Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in AncoraThemes Playa playa allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Playa: from n/a through <= 1.3.9.
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 Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the AncoraThemes Playa theme. The vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate file inclusion paths to read sensitive local files from the server, potentially exposing configuration files, credentials, or system files. The issue affects Playa versions up to and including 1.3.9.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Playa theme is installedCheck your web server's theme directory (commonly wp-content/themes/playa/ or similar) for the AncoraThemes Playa theme files. Look for style.css with theme metadata.Affected if The Playa theme directory exists on the server
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Identify the installed Playa versionOpen the theme's style.css file and locate the 'Version:' header in the theme comment block at the top. Compare this version number to 1.3.9.Affected if The installed version is 1.3.9 or lower
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Locate PHP files with file inclusion functionsSearch the theme directory for PHP files containing include, require, include_once, or require_once statements. Focus on files that accept parameters via $_GET, $_POST, or $_REQUEST.Affected if PHP files use inclusion functions with potentially user-controlled input
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Check for unsafe parameter handling in inclusion codeReview identified PHP files to see if include/require paths are constructed using direct user input without sanitization or whitelist validation.Affected if File inclusion paths are built using unsanitized user input (e.g., include($_GET['file']);)
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Test if arbitrary file reading is possibleIf a vulnerable inclusion point is found, attempt to access it with a benign local file path (e.g., ?page=../../../../etc/passwd or similar path traversal) to confirm LFI is exploitable.Affected if The file inclusion parameter allows path traversal to read local files outside the theme directory
You are affected if the AncoraThemes Playa theme version is 1.3.9 or lower and your server has PHP files that use unsanitized user input in include/require statements, allowing path traversal to read arbitrary local files.
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 dataImplement strict input validation on all file inclusion parameters using a whitelist approach, avoid using user input directly in include/require statements, and consider upgrading to a patched version when available.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,408.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-22437 — 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-2026-22437 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
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