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Two critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used across much of the internet, prompted government agencies and companies worldwide to temporarily take websites offline while systems were patched.

The flaws affected PHP, which is reported to underpin approximately 70 percent of websites. According to the South China Morning Post, PHP sits beneath popular web design platforms, potentially extending the risk across online stores, news outlets and government services. The breadth of its use meant that a weakness in the language had implications well beyond individual websites.

The shutdowns were described as precautionary measures rather than evidence of confirmed successful attacks. The Guardian reported that websites and government services in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Finland and France were among those temporarily taken offline as authorities worked to address the weakness.

The South China Morning Post identified Wiz as one of the security firms that found the issues and said the company estimated that PHP runs on about 70 percent of the world’s websites. Al Jazeera reported that artificial intelligence was used to pinpoint the two vulnerabilities, while the South China Morning Post also linked AI with the exposure of the flaws. The supplied reports do not detail how the technology was used in the discovery process.

The vulnerability could have allowed hackers to carry out cyberattacks, according to the supplied reporting, and Handelsblatt described many internet sites as vulnerable to hacker attacks. However, the material does not establish that the flaws were successfully exploited before the precautionary shutdowns. It also does not provide the technical nature of the vulnerabilities or formal severity ratings beyond describing them as critical.

Governments and businesses were working to patch the PHP weakness, The Guardian reported. The sources describe a worldwide operational impact and examples of sites being taken offline, but they do not give a specific total for the number of affected or shut-down websites. The episode showed how reliance on a common web technology can turn a software vulnerability into disruption across public services and businesses, although the supplied material does not establish the longer-term consequences.

SOURCES

  1. South China Morning PostWebsites go dark worldwide as AI exposes critical security flaws
  2. The Guardian BusinessFlaw in PHP computer language leads to shutdown of websites around world
  3. Al JazeeraWorld leaders warn of security flaws found in PHP programming language
  4. HandelsblattProgrammiersprache PHP: PHP-Sicherheitslücke alarmiert Sicherheitspolitiker