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.
CVE-2019-9978
“▲” beside the score: it is higher than NVD's CVSS score.
Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 6.1 retained for reference. The 9.0 is the floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: this CVE's impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 6.1 MEDIUM under GitHub Security Advisory CVSS. Confidence: HIGH.
Also known asEUVD-2019-19332 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at every mission impact level
No fix has been recorded since the CVE record was published in 2019 — use a compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and check the vendor's advisory.
The CVE record's description, written by its CNA (MITRE Corporation), states the affected versions: "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." No release containing a fix is confirmed on record.
- CVSS v3
- 6.1
- EG Score
- 9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
- EG Risk
- 67EG Risk 67/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity61% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 6.1 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation100% × 40%Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: No fix has been recorded since the CVE record was published in 2019. Check the vendor's advisory for a fixed release; until one is applied, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation on your normal schedule at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high. - EPSS PROB
- 73%
- EPSS %ILE
- 99th
- KEV
- ⚠ Exploited
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is the CISA KEV floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: its impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 6.1 MEDIUM.
- EG Severity
- 6.1 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 73% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-01). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).CISA BOD 26-04: 14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.No released fix is confirmed on this page, but CISA's timeline does not wait for a fix's release: this CVE is in CISA's KEV catalog, and CISA's required action for it, quoted below, applies whether or not a fix is released.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).
No fix has been recorded since the CVE record was published in 2019. Check the vendor's advisory for a fixed release; until one is applied, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation on your normal schedule at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.
No released fix is confirmed on this page, but CISA's timeline does not wait for a fix's release: this CVE is in CISA's KEV catalog, and CISA's required action for it, quoted below, applies whether or not a fix is released.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
CISA required action“Apply updates per vendor instructions.”
Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-9978
Published
March 24, 2019
Last Modified
November 7, 2025
Advisory Details (7)
Auto-updated Oct 27, 2026WordPress Plugin Social Warfare < 3.5.3 - Remote Code Execution - PHP webapps Exploit
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46794/SB2019032105 - Stored XSS in Social Warfare WordPress plugin
https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare – WordPress plugin | WordPress.org
https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-warfare/#developersWarfare Plugins on X: "On the afternoon of March 21, 2019, we were made aware of Zero-Day vulnerability affecting websites using the Social Warfare plugin. https://t.co/M0DjCoc6Ho" / X
https://twitter.com/warfareplugins/status/1108852747099652099Zero-Day Stored XSS in Social Warfare
https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.htmlWeakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 19× in last 7d / 120× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 100 of 1,068 refreshes on record for this CVE.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 968 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.
- 2026-11-02 02:45 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-11-02 02:45 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub severity MODERATE · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-11-01 01:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-11-01 01:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-31 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-31 00:37 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-31 00:37 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-30 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-29 23:33 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-29 23:33 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-28 22:29 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-28 22:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-28 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-27 21:25 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-27 21:25 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-27 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-26 20:21 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-26 20:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-26 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-25 19:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-25 18:55 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-25 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-24 18:13 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-24 18:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-24 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
Show 75 moreShow fewer
- 2026-10-23 17:09 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-23 17:09 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-22 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-22 16:04 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-22 16:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-21 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-21 15:00 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-21 15:00 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-20 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-20 13:56 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-20 13:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-19 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-19 12:51 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-19 12:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-18 11:46 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-18 09:39 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 10:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 10:40 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-16 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-16 09:36 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-16 09:36 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-15 08:30 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-15 08:30 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-14 07:23 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-14 07:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-13 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-13 06:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-12 19:50 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 05:12 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-12 01:16 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 21:22 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 21:22 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 17:25 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 17:24 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 13:29 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 13:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 09:31 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 05:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-11 01:38 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 21:44 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-10 21:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 19:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-10 17:47 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 13:53 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 09:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 06:02 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-10 02:08 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 22:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 18:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 14:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 10:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 06:32 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-09 02:37 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 22:43 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 18:49 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 14:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 11:01 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 07:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-08 03:13 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-08 03:12 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 23:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-07 23:18 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 19:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 15:28 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 11:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 07:38 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-07 03:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-06 23:50 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-06 19:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-06 16:01 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-06 16:01 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-06 15:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 73% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-06 12:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
- 2026-10-06 08:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-gfx2-wv94-38hv · GitHub CVSS 6.1
Publicly available exploits
(10 references)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (2 Exploit-DB entries, 7 GitHub PoCs), as is 1 Nuclei detection template. A detection template checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. No fix has been recorded since the CVE record was published in 2019. If the vendor still supports the product, apply the fixed version it names; if it no longer does, isolate the affected system.
- GitHub PoCTokyoHunter/CVE-2019-9978-Social-Warfare-WordPress-RCEPublished Jul 7, 2026
A complete walkthrough and exploit for CVE-2019-9978 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution in Social Warfare WordPress plugin ≤ 3.5.2. Includes vulnerable code analysis and payload examples.
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCyup-Ivan/CVE-2019-9978Published Jan 25, 2026
POC (RCE) -> CVE-2019-9978
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-52346Published Jun 26, 2025
Social Warfare WordPress Plugin 3.5.2 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCgrimlockx/CVE-2019-9978Published Jan 20, 2023
Remote Code Execution in Social Warfare Plugin before 3.5.3 for Wordpress.
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCd3fudd/CVE-2019-9978_ExploitPublished Nov 15, 2022
Social WarFare Plugin (<=3.5.2) Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - Nucleihttp/cves/2019/CVE-2019-9978.yamlPublished Aug 12, 2020
WordPress Social Warfare <3.5.3 - Cross-Site Scripting
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCKTN1990/CVE-2019-9978Published May 6, 2019
Wordpress Social Warfare Remote Code Execution (AUTO UPLOAD SHELL)
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-46794Published May 3, 2019
WordPress Plugin Social Warfare < 3.5.3 - Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoChash3liZer/CVE-2019-9978Published May 3, 2019
CVE-2019-9978 - (PoC) RCE in Social WarFare Plugin (<=3.5.2)
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCmpgn/CVE-2019-9978Published Mar 25, 2019
CVE-2019-9978 - RCE on a Wordpress plugin: Social Warfare < 3.5.3
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Frequently asked(6)
What is CVE-2019-9978?
When was the CVE record for CVE-2019-9978 published?
Is CVE-2019-9978 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-9978?
Which products are affected by CVE-2019-9978?
How do I remediate CVE-2019-9978?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2019-9978
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2019-9978?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.