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Actively exploited

CVE-2019-9978 WordPress Social Warfare Plugin Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability

WordPress Social Warfare plugin contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows for remote code execution. This vulnerability affects Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro.

From the CISA KEV catalogue version 2026.11.06, with Cybergen analysis. Updated 6 Nov 2026.

Our Assessment

Should You Worry?

Patch urgentlyCybergen assessment
  • CISA confirmed exploitation in the wild and added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 3 Nov 2021.
  • Rated Medium severity (CVSS 6.1, scored by CISA).
  • It has been in the catalogue for 1,829 days. Systems still unpatched now have almost certainly been scanned for it.
The Vulnerability

What It Is

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.

From Watch to Action

What To Do Now

  1. 1

    Find it

    Search your asset inventory and external attack surface for WordPress Social Warfare Plugin. Include cloud images, appliances and anything a supplier runs for you.

    Attack Surface Management
  2. 2

    Fix it

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

    Vulnerability Management
  3. 3

    Hunt for compromise

    If an affected system was reachable before you patched, assume it may have been hit. Check logs, new accounts, web shells and outbound connections from the date of exposure.

    Incident Response
  4. 4

    Prove it is fixed

    Rescan or test the system after patching. Upgrades that fail silently and forgotten secondary instances are common.

    Penetration Testing

Vendor Advisories

Regulation

The Compliance Clock

Cyber EssentialsCyber Essentials requires high and critical updates (CVSS 7.0 or above) within 14 days of release. Treat any exploited flaw the same way.NIS2If exploitation causes a significant incident, essential and important entities owe their CSIRT an early warning within 24 hours and a notification within 72 hours.DORAFinancial entities must classify ICT incidents and send an initial notification for a major incident within strict deadlines, with exploited flaws a common cause.US federal (BOD 22-01)Federal civilian agencies had until 3 May 2022 to remediate. A sensible benchmark for everyone else.

General guidance, not legal advice. Your obligations depend on your sector, scope and jurisdiction.

Stay Ahead

More Exploited WordPress Flaws

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All 7 exploited WordPress vulnerabilities

Not Sure If You Are Exposed?

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Evidence

Sources

  1. CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue
  2. NVD: CVE-2019-9978
  3. CVE record: CVE-2019-9978
  4. FIRST EPSS
  5. wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9238
  6. cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105
  7. blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html
  8. wordfence.com/blog/2019/03/unpatched-zero-day-vulnerability-in-social-warfare-plugin-exploited-in-th
  9. pluginvulnerabilities.com/2019/03/21/full-disclosure-of-settings-change-persistent-cross-site-script
  10. wordpress.org/plugins/social-warfare/#developers
  11. twitter.com/warfareplugins/status/1108852747099652099
  12. exploit-db.com/exploits/46794/