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

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2019-9978-wordpress-social-warfare-plugin-cross-site-scripting-xss  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2021-11-03. Updated: 2026-05-10  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2019-9978 · Severity: critical · CVSS 6.1 · Exploited in the wild · Published 2021-11-03

The Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro plugins for WordPress are vulnerable to stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) via the swp_url parameter in wp-admin/admin-post.php?swp_debug=load_options. This vulnerability can be leveraged to achieve remote code execution and was exploited in the wild as a zero-day.

Vendors: [Wordpress](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/wordpress).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2019-9978 exploited in the wild?** Yes. CVE-2019-9978 is known to be exploited in the wild, first recorded on 3 November 2021. Treat it as urgent.

**How severe is CVE-2019-9978?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 6.1, published 3 November 2021.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Social Warfare Social Warfare before 3.5.3; Social Warfare Social Warfare Pro before 3.5.3.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2019-9978?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2019-9978 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2019-9978?** Check whether you run Wordpress Social Warfare Plugin. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Affected products

- Social Warfare Social Warfare before 3.5.3
- Social Warfare Social Warfare Pro before 3.5.3

## Timeline

- 2019-03-21: disclosed: Zero-day vulnerability reported and exploited in the wild.
- 2019-03-21: exploited: Exploitation in the wild observed in March 2019.
- 2021-11-03: kev added: Added to CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.