⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 8.1

How to Fix CVE-2026-22381: Critical Vulnerability in PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 8.1 - High
Actively exploited?Not currently listed in CISA KEV
Affected0 <= 1.3
Fixed inSee vendor advisory
Type (CWE)CWE-98: Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion')

What is CVE-2026-22381?

CVE-2026-22381 is a security flaw in PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme. Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in Mikado-Themes PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme pawfriends allows PHP Local File Inclusion.This issue affects PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme: from n/a through <= 1.3.

Why this CVE matters

Unpatched network-facing software is the leading initial-access vector in public breach reporting. Treat any CVSS-9 class flaw on an internet-reachable system as urgent, regardless of whether public exploit code has been observed yet.

For deployments of PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Even where exploitation has not been publicly observed, scanning for the vulnerable fingerprint is cheap and routine. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

Open PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme's About dialog or run the vendor-documented version-check command. Compare the result against the affected ranges in the advisory.

How to fix CVE-2026-22381

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/pawfriends/vulnerability/wordpress-pawfriends-pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme-theme-1-3-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
  2. Upgrade PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme to the patched build listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  5. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

WordPress (WP-CLI)

_Verify the exact patched build against the vendor advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/pawfriends/vulnerability/wordpress-pawfriends-pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme-theme-1-3-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve_


# Vendor advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/pawfriends/vulnerability/wordpress-pawfriends-pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme-theme-1-3-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
# 1. Backup database and files first
wp db export wp-backup-$(date +%F).sql
tar -czf wp-files-$(date +%F).tgz /var/www/html/wp-content

# 2. Update the affected plugin/theme to the patched release
wp plugin update pawfriends---pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme --version=<patched-version>

# 3. Verify the running version
wp plugin get pawfriends---pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme --field=version

Bash detect / upgrade / verify runner (Linux)

_Verify the exact patched build against the vendor advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Theme/pawfriends/vulnerability/wordpress-pawfriends-pet-shop-and-veterinary-wordpress-theme-theme-1-3-local-file-inclusion-vulnerability?_s_id=cve_


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# CVE-2026-22381 remediation runner. Re-runnable; exits non-zero on failure.
set -euo pipefail
log() { printf '%s %s\n' "$(date -Is)" "$*" | tee -a /var/log/cve-2026-22381-fix.log; }

PKG="php"
TARGET_VERSION="see vendor advisory"

log "Detect: reading current $PKG version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' "$PKG" 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    current=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' "$PKG" 2>/dev/null || echo "not-installed")
else
    current="unknown"
fi
log "Current: $current (target per advisory: $TARGET_VERSION)"

log "Backup: snapshotting /etc/$PKG if present"
backup="/var/backups/cve-2026-22381-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M)"
mkdir -p "$backup"
[ -d "/etc/$PKG" ] && cp -a "/etc/$PKG" "$backup/" || true

log "Upgrade: applying vendor patch"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo apt-get update -qq
    sudo apt-get install -y --only-upgrade "$PKG"
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo dnf upgrade -y "$PKG"
elif command -v yum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    sudo yum update -y "$PKG"
fi

log "Verify: re-reading $PKG version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    after=$(dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}' "$PKG")
else
    after=$(rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' "$PKG")
fi
log "After: $after"

if [ "$after" != "$current" ]; then
    log "SUCCESS: $PKG upgraded"
else
    log "WARN: version unchanged. Confirm the patched build is in your repository."
    exit 1
fi

Verify the fix landed


# 1. Confirm the running version matches the patched build
#    (target per advisory: see vendor advisory)
#    Use the platform-specific version probe shown above.

# 2. Re-scan the host with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable,
#    Rapid7, OpenVAS). The scanner should no longer flag CVE-2026-22381.

# 3. Inspect service and kernel logs for crash-loops or rollback events
journalctl --since "10 minutes ago" | grep -iE 'error|fail|panic'
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago" | tail -50

If you cannot patch immediately

No official workaround exists beyond restricting network exposure to the affected component. Apply the vendor patch as the primary remediation.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for log entries that do not match your normal request patterns, especially repeated requests to the same uncommon endpoint, and any administrative changes you cannot tie back to a known operator.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-22381 being exploited in the wild?

Public exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA at the time of writing. Treat the patch as time-sensitive anyway; reports often lag actual abuse.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2026-22381?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for PawFriends - Pet Shop and Veterinary WordPress Theme run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*