NSA warns organizations to patch AI-discovered PHP flaws or take systems offline as global site outages follow. Over 1.5 million hosts run vulnerable PHP versions, prompting widespread site shutdowns across Europe, Asia, and beyond. The vulnerabilities, dubbed PHP2Shell, allow remote code execution on unpatched systems.
The flaws, discovered using AI, were hidden in PHP code for decades and require complex exploitation. Security firms Calif and Wiz, along with OpenAI, identified the vulnerabilities, which affect all PHP versions from the past 20 years. The NSA advised immediate updates or site shutdowns for organizations using PHP.
The vulnerabilities pose significant risks, with experts warning of a potential 'race to exploit' as hackers seek to compromise vulnerable servers. Cybersecurity agencies in the Netherlands, Japan, and other countries have taken sites offline as precautions. The PHP Foundation urged immediate updates, highlighting the severity of the flaws and the need for coordinated responses to prevent major online disruptions.