Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects the WordPress Email Subscribers & Newsletters plugin before 4.2.3. A logged-in low-privilege user could send test emails through an administrator-facing function, creating a misuse and trust risk rather than direct data theft or server takeover.
Executive priority
Treat as a routine but necessary WordPress plugin remediation. Prioritize internet-facing sites with public registration or many low-trust accounts.
Technical view
The plugin exposed a wp_ajax send_test_email function without adequate privilege enforcement. CVSS 3.0 is 4.3, network reachable with low privileges and low complexity. Reported impact is limited to availability in the CVE vector, with no confidentiality or integrity impact recorded.
Likely exposure
WordPress sites running Email Subscribers & Newsletters before 4.2.3 are exposed if untrusted users have Subscriber or higher access.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires an authenticated WordPress account and abuses administrative test-email capability, not unauthenticated access.
Researcher notes
Evidence identifies a privilege bypass in plugin AJAX handling. The affected CPE data is not populated in the bundle, so asset validation should rely on plugin name and version rather than CPE matching alone.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Email Subscribers & Newsletters to version 4.2.3 or later.
- Inventory WordPress sites for the plugin and remove unused installations.
- Review low-privilege WordPress accounts and disable unnecessary subscriber access.
- Check vendor advisories for any newer guidance or follow-up fixes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed plugin versions across WordPress assets.
- Verify no production site runs Email Subscribers & Newsletters before 4.2.3.
- Review mail logs for unusual test-email activity by low-privilege accounts.
- Check WordPress roles for unnecessary Subscriber-or-higher access.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2019-19980 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.3 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:L/C:N/I:N/PR:L/S:U/UI:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:L/C:N/I:N/PR:L/S:U/UI:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:L/C:N/I:N/PR:L/S:U/UI:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9946CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2019/11/multiple-vulnerabilities-patched-in-email-subscribers-newsletters-plugin/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.