Websites taken offline worldwide following critical security flaws in PHP
Local councils and national agencies have taken websites offline as administrators scramble to patch two critical PHP flaws discovered using artificial intelligence.
Organizations worldwide, including local councils in the UK such as Edinburgh and Oxford, have taken websites offline following instructions from cybersecurity authorities regarding two critical PHP flaws. The vulnerabilities, identified with the help of artificial intelligence, prompted developer updates on Wednesday after Cloudflare detected millions of exploitation attempts.
While PHP developers acknowledged delays in patching one previously identified issue, international security agencies advised operators unable to deploy emergency updates immediately to temporarily disable affected digital infrastructure. Government portals across Europe, including Finland's central website, experienced partial downtime as system administrators applied patches to mitigate potential unauthorized access.
Sources: BBC News, Cyprus Mail, France24, STV News, The Journal.
Sources
- Cyprus Mail — Websites down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued
- STV News — Websites around the world taken offline after AI finds ‘critical’ security flaw
- BBC News — Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued
- France24 — Government and corporate websites go dark as AI exposes critical security flaws
- The Journal — Websites around the world go dark after critical security flaws exposed
Earlier coverage
- Oct 22, 2026, 12:30 PM UTCPHP developers issue patches for critical flaws as global website shutdowns persist
- Oct 22, 2026, 04:30 AM UTCCritical PHP security vulnerabilities force European websites offline