Critical Vulnerabilities in PHP Prompt Shutdown of Government Websites Worldwide

Developers of the widely used PHP programming language announced that they have identified two critical security vulnerabilities, urging website administrators to patch their systems as soon as security updates are released, NBC News and The Jerusalem Post reported.

Following the disclosure, authorities worldwide recommended temporarily taking websites and online services offline until fixes are applied. According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, cybersecurity experts warned that the flaws could allow attackers to take full control of entire servers, noting that initial attacks have already been observed.

Several municipal and government authorities have already taken online services offline to protect systems. Further details regarding the full scale of affected websites have not yet been released.