Executive Summary

CVE-2025-69147 is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability found in the WordPress Putter Theme versions 1.17 and below. This flaw allows an attacker to include local files from the target website without any authentication.

Because it requires no authentication, it is particularly dangerous. Exploiting this vulnerability could expose sensitive data such as database credentials and potentially lead to a complete database takeover depending on the server configuration.

The vulnerability is classified under OWASP Top 10 A3: Injection and has a high severity score of 8.1 according to CVSS v3.1.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can have severe impacts including unauthorized access to sensitive files on your server.

Attackers could extract sensitive information such as database credentials, which might allow them to take over your database completely.

Such a compromise could lead to data breaches, loss of data integrity, and availability issues on your website.

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Detection Guidance

The vulnerability is a Local File Inclusion (LFI) flaw in the WordPress Putter Theme versions 1.17 and below, which can be exploited without authentication. Detection typically involves monitoring for suspicious requests attempting to include local files via the theme.

Since no specific detection commands are provided in the available resources, general detection methods include checking web server logs for unusual URL parameters or payloads that attempt to include local files, such as requests containing directory traversal patterns (e.g., ../) or attempts to access sensitive files.

You can use commands like the following to search web server logs for potential exploitation attempts:

• grep -i 'putter' /var/log/apache2/access.log | grep -E '(\.{2}/|etc/passwd|wp-config.php)'
• grep -r --include='*.log' -E '(\.{2}/|include=|file=)' /var/log/

Additionally, network intrusion detection systems (NIDS) or web application firewalls (WAF) with rules targeting LFI attacks can help detect exploitation attempts.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include applying any available updates or patches to the WordPress Putter Theme. However, as of now, there is no official patch available from the theme developers.

Patchstack has issued a mitigation rule to block attacks targeting this vulnerability until an official fix is released and safely applied.

Other recommended actions are to seek assistance from your hosting provider or a web developer to implement temporary protections, such as configuring a web application firewall (WAF) to block suspicious requests that attempt local file inclusion.

Updating the theme to a non-vulnerable version when it becomes available is advised to fully resolve the issue.

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Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to include local files on the target website, potentially exposing sensitive data such as database credentials. This exposure could lead to a complete database takeover depending on the server configuration.

Such unauthorized access and potential data exposure could result in non-compliance with common standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require protection of sensitive personal and health information.

Therefore, exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to breaches of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, impacting compliance obligations under these regulations.

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