Intelligence online17 sources monitored8 actively exploited 7d26 published 24hChecked recently
Vulnerability record

CVE-2019-9978

WordPress Social Warfare Plugin Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability

ElevatedExploitation confirmedCISA KEV
What should I do?

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: attackers are using it. If you run Social Warfare Plugin, fix it now.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal civilian agencies must remediate by May 3, 2022.

Patch status

No official fix confirmed yet

Until a fix ships, follow the vendor's mitigations and CISA's required action, limit exposure of affected systems, and watch this record for a patch.

Description

The social-warfare plugin before 3.5.3 for WordPress has stored XSS via the wp-admin/admin-post.php?swp_debug=load_options swp_url parameter, as exploited in the wild in March 2019. This affects Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro.

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database. Official vulnerability data, reproduced as published.

Affected products

ProductVendorSource
Social Warfare PluginWordPressKEV

Sources: KEV = CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Version details have not been published yet.

Intelligence timeline

Developments from the last 30 days, newest first.

  1. CVSS scoredUpdateKEV

    CVE-2019-9978 scored CVSS 6.1: WordPress Social Warfare Plugin, WordPress Social Warfare Plugin Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability

    CISA lists this as exploited in the wild. Unpatched Social Warfare Plugin systems are exposed to active attacks now.

    Basis: NIST National Vulnerability Database

1 earlier event is available with a subscription. See plans.

Coverage

We have not published a story about this vulnerability yet.

References

  • nvd.nist.gov https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-9978
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152722/Wordpress-Social-Warfare-Remote-Code-Execution.html
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163680/WordPress-Social-Warfare-3.5.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html
  • blog.sucuri.net https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html
  • twitter.com https://twitter.com/warfareplugins/status/1108852747099652099
  • wordpress.org https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-warfare/#developers
  • wpvulndb.com https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9238
  • cybersecurity-help.cz https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105
  • exploit-db.com https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46794/
  • pluginvulnerabilities.com https://www.pluginvulnerabilities.com/2019/03/21/full-disclosure-of-settings-change-persistent-cross-site-scri…
  • wordfence.com https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2019/03/unpatched-zero-day-vulnerability-in-social-warfare-plugin-exploited-in-…
  • seclists.org http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Jun/1
  • cisa.gov https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-9978