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

CVE-2026-28077

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 Vapester vapester allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects Vapester: from n/a through <= 1.1.10.

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 Vapester vapester PHP application. The vulnerability allows attackers to include arbitrary PHP files from the local server due to improper control of filenames in include/require statements, potentially leading to code execution.

MitigationRemediate by implementing strict input validation on file inclusion parameters, using allowlists for permitted files, and ensuring include/require statements cannot be manipulated to load arbitrary files from the filesystem.

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 the ThemeREX Vapester vapester application
    Search your web server directories for files or directories containing 'vapester' or 'themrex' in the name. Check common web root locations such as /var/www/html, /home/*/public_html, or C:\inetpub\wwwroot.
    Affected if The application is present on the server
  2. Identify the installed version
    Examine any version.php, readme.txt, or changelog files within the vapester application directory. Check for a VERSION constant or variable in the main PHP files. Also review composer.json or package.json if present.
    Affected if No version can be determined or the version falls outside a known secure range
  3. Identify vulnerable include/require statements
    Review PHP source files in the application for include, require, include_once, or require_once statements that use variables in the file path without validation. Search for patterns like 'include($', 'require($', or 'include($_GET' in the codebase.
    Affected if Dynamic file inclusion using unsanitized user input is found in the code
  4. Check for exposed file inclusion parameters
    If the application is web-accessible, test common LFI parameter names (such as 'file', 'page', 'path', 'include', 'template', or 'lang') by attempting to include a known local file like /etc/passwd or Windows equivalent, using GET or POST requests.
    Affected if The application accepts and processes file path parameters that allow directory traversal or arbitrary file inclusion
  5. Verify PHP configuration
    Check the php.ini setting for allow_url_include - ensure it is disabled. Also review if the web server process has permissions to read sensitive system files outside the web root.
    Affected if allow_url_include is enabled or the web process can read sensitive files outside the intended directory

A defender is affected if the ThemeREX Vapester vapester application is installed and contains dynamic file inclusion logic that processes unsanitized user-supplied input, allowing attackers to include arbitrary local PHP files.

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

Remediate by implementing strict input validation on file inclusion parameters, using allowlists for permitted files, and ensuring include/require statements cannot be manipulated to load arbitrary files from the filesystem.

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
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2026-28077 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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