PHP’s ‘structural failure’ sends crypto teams into patch patrol

The PHP Foundation acknowledged that indecision and a shortage of resources delayed a fix for a critical security flaw first identified in 2024, calling the stalled response a “structural failure” as agencies and organizations worldwide took websites offline Wednesday. The foundation released emergency patches for two related critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language widely used to power websites and web applications, including content management systems. The flaws could allow unauthenticated attackers to execute code on affected servers without logging in.

In a blog post following the patch release, the foundation said its developers first found signs of the vulnerability in 2024 but struggled to develop a fix without disrupting the large ecosystem of software built using PHP. “Combined with the lack of a known path to remote code execution and the small team of core developers with the necessary deep knowledge of the engine occupied with many responsibilities, this decision process caused work on a fix to stall and restart repeatedly over months,” said the foundation. “We won’t pretend otherwise: the delay was a structural failure, caused by both the security team’s decision process and its lack of resources.” The foundation was pointed to the vulnerability again on August 11, after security firm Calif and OpenAI independently reported the same underlying issue. Calif demonstrated unconditional remote code execution, making the flaw a top security priority.

Among the precautionary shutdowns, the Netherlands shut its digital identity service, and the country’s National Cyber Security Center also took its website offline. Finland’s state IT provider Valtori disconnected government public web services, while France’s Interior Ministry temporarily took prefecture websites offline. Germany’s federal IT provider ITZBund also disabled several websites, according to Reuters. In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate acknowledged that its cybersecurity website, cyber.gov.au, was among government sites affected by the PHP issue.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on X urging website operators to prepare to apply the patch as quickly as possible, saying temporarily suspending website functions could reduce the risk if the patch could not be applied immediately. The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, said it took some supporting services offline as a precaution, including Toolforge and Cloud VPS, which host tools and projects used by volunteer developers, leading to parts of Wikipedia going offline Wednesday. SlowMist said its MistEye service surveyed PHP use across the crypto industry, urging exchanges, DeFi platforms and wallet providers to review their exposure and upgrade.