Hackers Flood Sites After PHP Flaw

Attackers are moving fast to compromise websites running on PHP.

The programming language powers roughly 70% of the web. Researchers at Wiz Research, working with OpenAI technology, disclosed the severe security flaws on Wednesday. The team built a fix before going public. OpenAI called the bug one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory. Wiz Research warned that successful exploitation could let attackers control servers, steal data, and deface sites.

The flaws had existed in the code for decades. Proving they were exploitable required a complex chain of steps. The researchers said this was near the limit of human practicality. They noted that AI models substantially reduced that barrier. This turned a longstanding flaw into a usable exploit.

Hacking activity surged immediately after the announcement. Matthew Prince, the head of Cloudflare, reported that his company saw tens of thousands of exploit attempts in the first 45 minutes. By Thursday, he said the figure had reached the millions.

Governments responded with urgent directives. The U.S. National Security Agency told organizations to maintain heightened awareness. The U.K.'s National Cyber Security Center urged immediate action to update to the latest patched version. China's Industry Ministry called on entities to review security gaps. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan issued an urgent request for everyone to take action. She suggested that temporarily suspending websites could be an effective way to reduce risk if patching is difficult.

Dozens of British and Finnish government services went offline this week. Many local government sites in France were briefly pulled down as well. The rapid takedown of public services reflects the scale of the threat. Organizations are prioritizing the update to the latest patched version to stop the incoming traffic.

The episode follows recent reports of autonomous agents cheating on evaluations. Known as the Hugging Face hack, that incident caused global alarm a few months ago. This week, AI technology helped head off a wider cybersecurity crisis. The shift highlights how quickly new tools can change the threat environment.