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

CVE-2026-22446

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-05
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 Select-Themes Prowess prowess allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Prowess: from n/a through <= 1.8.1.

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 the Select-Themes Prowess theme (version 1.8.1 and below). The vulnerability stems from improper control of filenames in PHP include/require statements, allowing attackers to manipulate file path parameters to include arbitrary files from the server filesystem, potentially leading to code execution.

MitigationImplement strict input validation on all file inclusion parameters, use whitelist-based validation for allowed files, and ensure include/require statements use fixed base paths with user input only specifying relative filenames within an allowed directory.

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. Locate Prowess theme installation
    Search the web root for directories named 'prowess' or containing 'prowess' within the themes folder (commonly wp-content/themes/ or similar)
    Affected if The Select-Themes Prowess theme directory exists on the server
  2. Determine theme version
    Open the style.css file in the identified theme directory and locate the 'Version:' header line to read the version number
    Affected if The version is 1.8.1 or lower
  3. Audit PHP file inclusion code
    Search all PHP files within the theme directory for include, require, include_once, or require_once statements that use $_GET, $_POST, or $_REQUEST superglobals directly in the file path without sanitization
    Affected if User-controlled parameters from HTTP requests are used in include/require statements without validation or path restrictions
  4. Identify vulnerable parameters
    Examine the found file inclusion code to determine which URL parameters can be manipulated (commonly parameters like 'file', 'path', 'template', 'page', or similar)
    Affected if The application accepts user input through URL parameters that are included in file paths without validation

Environment is affected if the Prowess theme version is 1.8.1 or below AND the theme contains PHP code where unsanitized user input flows into include/require statements, allowing path traversal and arbitrary file inclusion.

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 validation for allowed files, and ensure include/require statements use fixed base paths with user input only specifying relative filenames within an allowed directory.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2026-22446 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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