Can a WordPress Theme Get Hacked?

A WordPress theme can be a source of compromise, though it is less common than plugin vulnerabilities. Themes are code, and code has bugs. Some bugs are security bugs.

The risk varies a lot depending on where your theme came from and when it was last updated. Here is what matters.

How do theme vulnerabilities work?

Themes control how your site looks, but they also run code on your server. A theme that handles user input poorly, for example one with a search feature or a contact form built in, can be vulnerable to the same types of attacks that affect plugins.

In 2025, researchers logged 11,334 new WordPress security holes. Themes account for a smaller fraction of that number than plugins do. In 2025, 91 percent of new WordPress vulnerabilities came from plugins, which means about 9 percent came from themes and other sources. That 9 percent is still hundreds of vulnerabilities.

For a site with an active, well-maintained theme from a reputable developer, theme vulnerabilities are a lower-priority concern than plugin vulnerabilities. But they are not zero.

What makes a theme high-risk?

Abandoned themes are the biggest risk. A theme last updated three years ago has not received security patches for three years. If vulnerabilities have been found in it during that time, they are still open on your site.

Many small businesses have a theme installed by a developer they no longer work with. If that theme stopped being maintained, they would not know. The theme just keeps running, quietly vulnerable.

Nulled themes are even riskier. A nulled theme is a premium theme distributed without authorization, usually through file-sharing sites or unofficial directories. These themes are popular because they offer paid functionality for free.

The trade is usually a bad one. Whoever stripped the license from the theme often added their own code. That code is frequently malicious: it may create a backdoor, inject spam content, or send your site’s data to a remote server. Nulled themes are a common source of infection that does not require any exploit at all. The malware ships with the product.

Child themes and parent themes

Many sites run a child theme paired with a parent theme. Both need to be maintained. If the parent theme has a vulnerability, your child theme does not protect you.

Check both.

What you can do today

1. Go to Appearance in your WordPress dashboard and check when your active theme was last updated.

2. Check whether there is a parent theme installed alongside your child theme. Look at the update history for both.

3. Search the internet for your theme name plus the word “vulnerability.” If it has known security issues, you will find them.

4. If you received your theme from a source other than the official WordPress repository or the developer’s direct site, consider it suspect. Compare the files against a known-clean copy if you can.

5. Remove any themes you are not using. They do not need to be active to be exploited in some attack scenarios.

Why this keeps happening

Themes are maintained by their developers. When a developer stops supporting a theme, users do not always find out. The theme continues to be used on sites around the web, collecting vulnerabilities that never get patched.

Detecting this requires knowing your theme’s status and actively monitoring for updates. For a business owner focused on running their business, this is another ongoing task that was not in the original plan.

Basalt moves small business websites off WordPress to a platform with nothing to hack and nothing to update. The move is free. Theme vulnerabilities are part of the broader picture that the plugin ecosystem article covers in more depth.

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