How severe is CVE-2019-9978?

CVE-2019-9978 has a CVSS score of 6.1/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2019-9978?

Affected package information for CVE-2019-9978 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2019-9978?

Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for CVE-2019-9978, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.

How do I detect CVE-2019-9978 in my code and dependencies?

Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).

How do I mitigate CVE-2019-9978 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2019-9978 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 19 known exploit references for CVE-2019-9978, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 11 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2019-9978?

CVE-2019-9978 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 72.9%, placing it in the 99th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2019-9978 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2019-9978 (WordPress Social Warfare Plugin Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-03. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2019-9978?

CVE-2019-9978 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2019-9978?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2019-9978, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2019-9978 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2019-9978 was published on March 24, 2019 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🛡️

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2019-9978 — social-warfare-pro

MEDIUM

CVE-2019-9978 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Published

Mar 24, 2019

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

2 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

19 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-05-03.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2019-9978.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

72.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2019-9978 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

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.

Affected Products

2 products · 2 configurations

Application

social warfarewarfareplugins

< 3.5.3

range

Application

social warfare prowarfareplugins

< 3.5.3

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-46794webappsphp

WordPress Plugin Social Warfare < 3.5.3 - Remote Code Execution

by hash3liZer · May 3, 2019

Exploit-DB Source

EDB-52346webappsmultiple

Social Warfare WordPress Plugin 3.5.2 - Remote Code Execution (RCE)

by Huseyin Mardinli · Jun 26, 2025

Exploit-DB Source

Detection & mitigation playbook

Vulnerability

Detect
Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).
Fix
Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for CVE-2019-9978, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

How to detect CVE-2019-9978

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2019-9978 -u https://target

Template: WordPress Social Warfare <3.5.3 - Cross-Site Scripting
Severity: medium
Impact: Attackers can execute arbitrary scripts in admin context, potentially leading to session hijacking or privilege escalation.
Remediation: Update to version 3.5.3 or later.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (madrobot, dwisiswant0), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2019-9978 in your dependencies?

Find it across , including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

6.1/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

Timeline

Disclosed

Mar 24, 2019

First exploit

May 3, 2019

KEV added

Nov 3, 2021

Last updated

Oct 24, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2019-9978

References

Advisorytwitter.com Advisorywpvulndb.com Advisoryexploit-db.com Advisorywordfence.com Articleseclists.org Webwordpress.org Webcisa.gov Evidencepacketstormsecurity.com Evidencepacketstormsecurity.com Evidenceblog.sucuri.net Evidencecybersecurity-help.cz Evidencepluginvulnerabilities.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 4 of 8 other CVEs with CWE-79 are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2026-114061GHSA-2rqm-h6hv-g79vCVE-2026-115897CVE-2026-114128CVE-2026-63430GHSA-c6gr-qvv4-5v3fGHSA-cg2g-xh64-v4q7CVE-2026-114130Browse all CWE-79

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDCISA KEVFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 24, 2026