Two critical security flaws in the PHP programming language have prompted governments and organisations worldwide to take websites offline. The vulnerabilities, discovered using AI, are described as among the most severe ever found.
01Summary
- 01Cyber-security agencies in the US, UK, EU, Australia and Japan have urged organisations to apply fixes or take systems offline.
- 02Finland shut down its government web services; the Netherlands' cyber-security agency and Edinburgh Council also took sites offline.
- 03The vulnerabilities were discovered by researchers at firms Calif and Wiz using AI from OpenAI, and may have gone undetected for over a decade.
- 04Wiz estimated that roughly 70% of the internet is affected, although the BBC could not verify this figure.
- 05The PHP Foundation issued an update for PHP 8.1 and later; users of older versions are urged to upgrade.
02Why it matters
This matters because the flaws could allow hackers to install malware and take down websites, affecting a vast portion of the internet that relies on PHP. Organisations must urgently patch their systems or risk being compromised.
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