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

CVE-2026-28049

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 Police Department police-department allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Police Department: from n/a through <= 2.17.

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

This is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in the ThemeREX Police Department WordPress theme. The theme improperly controls filenames in PHP include/require statements, allowing attackers to include arbitrary local PHP files by manipulating input parameters.

MitigationUpdate the theme to a patched version if available; if no patch exists, remove the theme or implement strict input validation on all file inclusion functions to restrict paths to 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 Police Department theme is installed
    Inspect the WordPress themes directory at /wp-content/themes/ and look for a folder named 'trx_police' or 'police-department' or similar naming pattern associated with the ThemeREX Police Department theme. Check theme header in style.css for the theme name.
    Affected if The theme folder exists in the WordPress themes directory and the theme is activated.
  2. Determine the installed theme version
    Open the theme's style.css file in /wp-content/themes/[theme-folder]/ and locate the 'Version:' field in the theme header comment block. Compare this version against any known affected versions or the latest patched version available from ThemeREX.
    Affected if The installed version is older than the patched version or is an unpatched release.
  3. Locate vulnerable file inclusion code
    Search theme PHP files for include/require statements that use dynamic variables or parameters without proper sanitization. Look for patterns like 'include($_GET[...])' or 'require_once($file)' within theme files, particularly in includes, modules, or template files.
    Affected if Code exists that uses unsanitized input from request parameters ($_GET, $_POST) in include/require statements.
  4. Check for exposed vulnerable parameters
    If vulnerable code is found, identify the parameter names used (e.g., 'file', 'template', 'page', 'include'). Test accessing the theme with requests containing these parameters pointing to local files like /wp-config.php or ../../wp-config.php.
    Affected if The server responds with content from local files when the parameter is manipulated.
  5. Review PHP configuration settings
    Check php.ini or phpinfo() output for the allow_url_include setting. Also verify that open_basedir restrictions are not properly configured if the hosting environment supports them.
    Affected if allow_url_include is enabled (set to 1 or On) or open_basedir is not restricting access to only necessary directories.

A user is affected if the ThemeREX Police Department theme is installed and activated, contains vulnerable file inclusion code using unsanitized parameters, and those parameters are accessible to unauthenticated users.

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

Update the theme to a patched version if available; if no patch exists, remove the theme or implement strict input validation on all file inclusion functions to restrict paths to allowed directories.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2026-28049 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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