Websites in Europe and US go offline as operators patch newly found PHP vulnerabilities
Photo: APGovernment agencies and other organizations in Europe and the United States temporarily took websites offline Wednesday after newly disclosed vulnerabilities, dubbed PHP2Shell, were found in PHP, the open-source language behind sites built on WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. Cloudflare says nearly 70% of websites use PHP. Researchers at Wiz showed hackers could seize servers without logging in. Germany, France, Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands took government sites down, Reuters reported, including the Dutch lower house's home page; Dutch hospitals and the Port of Rotterdam were affected. Something Awful and the Wikimedia Foundation also pulled services. PHP developers issued emergency patches Wednesday, warning temporary safeguards cannot fully protect systems. Cloudflare detected attacks, but widespread breaches are unconfirmed.
Left-leaning outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing, while alternative and right-leaning outlets had. Right-leaning outlets, the Washington Times and New York Post, lead with the government shutdowns, especially Dutch sites, and the Post adds technical detail and the PHP Foundation's admission that a 2024 audit sign went unresolved. The alternative source, AP, stresses that an AI-assisted discovery prompted the shutdowns and cites an FBI cyber division warning. The articles do not conflict on facts.
How the sides differ Left sources have not covered it; right sources stress government shutdowns and technical detail, while alternative sources stress the AI-assisted discovery and an FBI warning.
Headline, comparison and summary written by AI from the articles below. AI can make mistakes, so check the original articles before relying on a detail.
Not covering this story. None of the left-leaning outlets Crosswire tracks has reported it yet. What one side leaves out can be as telling as what the others report.
AP leads with the AI-assisted discovery of the flaw and the temporary shutdowns in Europe and the U.S., citing a warning from the FBI's cyber division.
- New York PostMajor websites in US and Europe go dark as operators race to protect systems from hackers
The Washington Times leads with Dutch parliament and other European government sites going offline. The New York Post adds Cloudflare, Wiz and PHP Foundation details, including an unresolved 2024 audit finding.