Key Takeaways
- Government agencies and companies worldwide shut down websites due to critical PHP security flaws.
- The US National Security Agency advised immediate patching or offline operation of vulnerable systems.
- The flaws could allow attackers to take over web servers without needing a password.
Government agencies and companies around the world took immediate action Wednesday, shutting down websites to address critical security flaws in PHP, a widely used programming language.
The United States National Security Agency (NSA) issued an urgent warning, instructing organizations to either patch the vulnerabilities immediately or take vulnerable systems offline.
The flaws, which were reported in August by security firm Calif and by ChatGPT maker OpenAI, pose a significant risk as they often provide a direct path to the server’s file system or database.
Attackers could exploit these vulnerabilities to take over web servers without needing a password, making the security implications severe.
The PHP Foundation, which funds developers working on the language, urged users to update immediately, stating, 'If you run PHP, it is imperative that you update now.'
The discovery of these flaws coincides with a surge in software security disclosures driven by increasingly powerful AI models, with the number of vulnerabilities found in 2026 expected to roughly double last year’s record total.
In France, local government websites, including the Paris Police Prefecture, have been inaccessible since Wednesday afternoon, following a request from the French National Cybersecurity Agency.
In the Netherlands, the national digital identity service DigiD, the website of the House of Representatives, and the site of the national cybersecurity center went offline as a precaution, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
Belgium’s foreign ministry temporarily took its websites offline as a precaution, despite the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium recording no attacks on Belgian sites.
If you run PHP, it is imperative that you update now.
PHP Foundation, Funds developers working on the language
