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

CVE-2026-27998

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 ThemeREX Vixus vixus allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Vixus: from n/a through <= 1.0.16.

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 confidence

A PHP Local File Inclusion vulnerability exists in ThemeREX Vixus theme versions 1.0.16 and below. The application improperly controls filenames used in include/require statements, allowing attackers to manipulate input parameters to include arbitrary local files from the server, potentially exposing sensitive data or achieving code execution.

MitigationImplement strict input validation with whitelist approach for file inclusion paths, avoid using user-supplied input directly in include/require statements, and validate that included files exist within allowed directories.

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. Identify if ThemeREX Vixus theme is installed
    Check your WordPress theme directory (wp-content/themes/vixus) for the theme files. Look for style.css with the theme name header.
    Affected if The vixus theme folder exists in your WordPress themes directory
  2. Check the installed version number
    Open the theme style.css file in wp-content/themes/vixus/ and locate the 'Version:' field in the theme header comment. Compare this version to 1.0.16.
    Affected if The version number in style.css is 1.0.16 or lower
  3. Identify if user-controllable file inclusion parameters exist
    Search theme PHP files for include, require, include_once, or require_once statements that use variables from $_GET, $_POST, or $_REQUEST without sanitization. Look for patterns like 'include($_GET[...])' or 'require($var)'.
    Affected if The theme code contains include/require statements using unsanitized user input parameters
  4. Check for the vulnerable parameter in HTTP requests
    If you have access to your web server logs, search for requests to the theme that contain parameters potentially used in file inclusion (e.g., 'file=', 'path=', 'page=', 'template=').
    Affected if HTTP requests to the site contain parameters that get passed to include/require functions in the theme code

You are affected if the ThemeREX Vixus theme version is 1.0.16 or lower and your theme code uses user-supplied input in include/require statements without validation.

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 with whitelist approach for file inclusion paths, avoid using user-supplied input directly in include/require statements, and validate that included files exist within allowed directories.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

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 locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-27998 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-27998 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data