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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Social WarfareWordPress extension · Warfareplugins

CVE-2019-9978

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-03-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.5.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
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.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Stored XSS vulnerability in Social Warfare WordPress plugin versions before 3.5.3 allows injection of malicious JavaScript via the swp_url parameter when the debug mode (swp_debug=load_options) is accessed. The payload is stored in the database and executes when administrators view affected pages, enabling session hijacking and privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate Social Warfare plugin to version 3.5.3 or later; if the site may have been compromised, audit admin accounts and clean any malicious database entries added by attackers.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Social WarfareWordPress extension
Affected:< 3.5.3
Social Warfare ProWordPress extension
Affected:< 3.5.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Social Warfare plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins > Social Warfare (or Social Warfare Pro) and view the Version number. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file header or version.php for the Version constant.
    Affected if Version is below 3.5.3 for either the free or Pro plugin
  2. Verify debug mode is accessible
    Attempt to access your site's URL with the query parameter swp_debug=load_options (e.g., example.com/?swp_debug=load_options). Check if the page loads without authentication or returns plugin options data.
    Affected if Debug mode responds without requiring authentication, exposing the vulnerable parameter handler
  3. Inspect database for suspicious swp_url entries
    Query your WordPress database (wp_postmeta or similar tables where plugin settings are stored) for meta keys containing 'swp_url' or 'social_warfare' and review values for JavaScript tags, <script> elements, or base64-encoded payloads.
    Affected if Database contains unexpected or malicious URLs in swp_url-related meta fields
  4. Review recent admin account activity
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and check for newly created administrators, especially those with unfamiliar usernames or email addresses. Also check user_meta for suspicious capability additions.
    Affected if Unexpected admin accounts exist or recent admin account modifications occurred that you did not authorize

If the Social Warfare (or Pro) plugin version is below 3.5.3 and the debug mode endpoint was accessible, the stored XSS was likely exploitable and malicious swp_url entries may exist in the database.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.5.3 or later
Fixed in 3.5.3
Interim mitigation

Update Social Warfare plugin to version 3.5.3 or later; if the site may have been compromised, audit admin accounts and clean any malicious database entries added by attackers.

Recommended fix High confidence

Social Warfare / Social Warfare Pro version 3.5.3 or later

  1. Backup your WordPress site before making any changes
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in WordPress admin
  3. Find Social Warfare (or Social Warfare Pro) in the plugin list
  4. Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually upload version 3.5.3 or later from wordpress.org
  5. Verify the updated version number reflects 3.5.3 or higher
  6. Clear any server-side caches if used
  7. Check the plugin settings to ensure configuration is intact
Caveat Minor plugin version updates typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, test in staging if applicable

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Social Warfare Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-9978 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data