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Cybersecurity

PHP flaw affecting 70% of websites triggers global patch rush as hacking attempts surge

Wiz Research found PHP flaws affecting about 70% of websites, prompting global patching as hacking attempts surged.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-23 20:21

OpenAI called the bug "one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory." Wiz Research warned that "successful exploitation could allow attackers to take control of affected servers, steal sensitive data, and deface the websites running on them." The firm said the findings rank among the most severe vulnerabilities discovered in PHP and arguably in software history. It said its teams had worked on a solution before disclosing the flaw and that the fix is now available for websites to protect themselves.

PHP, short for Hypertext Preprocessor, has underpinned much of the internet since the 1990s, according to Wiz Research, which called it "the backbone of the web." The firm said the flaws had been present for decades, but demonstrating their exploitability required an exceptionally complex chain of steps at the edge of what human researchers could practically achieve. AI models "substantially reduced that barrier, turning a longstanding flaw into an exploit," Wiz Research said.

The U.S. National Security Agency warned organizations using PHP to "maintain heightened awareness" over the coming weeks. The U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center called on organizations to "take immediate action" to update websites to the latest fixed or patched version. China's Industry Ministry urged entities to review security gaps.

Dozens of British and Finnish government services were taken offline this week, and many local government sites in France were briefly taken down, according to NPR News. In Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued "an urgent request for everyone to take action," adding that if applying the fix patch promptly is difficult, temporarily suspending websites and similar measures can be an effective way to reduce risk.

Matthew Prince, head of the cybersecurity firm CloudFlare, said his organization saw tens of thousands of attempts to exploit the flaw in the first 45 minutes after its discovery. By Thursday, that number had reached millions, he said.