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Threats / WordPress / CVE-2019-9978
CVE-2019-9978 · EUVD no mirror located · GCVE no mirror located Verified 2026-06-22

WordPress Social Warfare Plugin vulnerability

WordPress Social Warfare plugin contains a cross-site scripting vulnerability enabling remote code execution. The flaw affects both Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro versions.

Verdict

Today item — known-exploited.

Stored or reflected XSS in Social Warfare allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in user browsers, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or site compromise through code execution.

CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-033EPSS 0.73543 (verify live)4Exploit Weaponized · public PoC5
01

Is it exploitable?

— the evidence, ranked above the score
Exploit available
Fully weaponized — public exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
567 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03).
CISA KEV ↗Confirmed
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.73543 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: WordPress, Social Warfare Plugin. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
NVD ↗Reported
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-79 Cross-site Scripting (XSS) — weakness family: Web / client.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
NVD ↗Reported
02

Who’s exploiting it?

— attribution turns risk into urgency
Attribution not established

No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.

03

Why it matters

— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board
1

Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1

Attacker
I craft a malicious payload and inject it through a vulnerable Social Warfare parameter or social sharing feature.
Business
Website visitors are exposed to injected scripts that can steal session tokens, redirect users, or harvest credentials.
2

Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2

Attacker
I execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the WordPress admin or user sessions visiting the compromised page.
Business
Administrative accounts or user data become compromised, enabling lateral movement or data exfiltration from the WordPress installation.
3

Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3

Attacker
I leverage the code execution capability to modify site content, inject backdoors, or establish persistent access to the WordPress environment.
Business
Site integrity is compromised, reputation is damaged, and recovery requires forensic investigation and potential data breach notification.
04

What to do

— defensible action
  • Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05

Coverage & confidence

— what we know, and what we don’t

Established (cited)

  • KEV listing (CISA)
  • EPSS probability (FIRST)
  • Weaponized exploit available (VulnCheck)
  • 567 reported-exploitation source(s)
  • CWE weakness mapping (NVD)
  • Public exploit availability
  • Catalogued by mitre (CNA)
  • Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden

  • No EUVD / GCVE mirror in feed — single-authority dependency for the identifier.
  • EPSS & exposure are time-varying; verify live at the source.
  • Threat-actor attribution not established from feed data — absence of a name is not absence of compromise.
  • No finder/reporter credit recorded in the public CVE entry — the work behind this find is unattributed.
  • Disclosure & credit2
    Catalogued by mitreCNA
    Credited with finding itNo finder named in the public CVE record — the work behind this find is unattributed.