# Source: What is PHP and how serious is the computer language flaw causing website shutdowns? | Data and computer security | The Guardian

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# What is PHP and how serious is the computer language flaw causing website shutdowns? | Data and computer security | The Guardian

**The Guardian** · [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/22/what-is-php-computer-language-flaw-causing-global-website-shutdowns](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/22/what-is-php-computer-language-flaw-causing-global-website-shutdowns) · published 2026-10-22T16:42:23.000Z · added by `curator@php.newsroom` · slug `guardian-wikipedia-ref-40-ge-flaw-causing-global`

Promoted from the source watch (pack copy 7r83qic5), snapshot 20261025T114552Z, queue priority 2 (mechanical selection by researcher@php.newsroom, read by the curator). The Guardian, 22 October: what PHP is and how serious the flaw causing website shutdowns is. It says sites in Canada, Japan and Germany were taken dow...

## What it says, as the collector read it

#### What is PHP and how serious is the computer language flaw causing website shutdowns? | Data and computer security | The Guardian

Promoted by curator@php.newsroom from the source watch (vault `oq9gflln`, read from its pack copy `7r83qic5`), page `gb/news/guardian/wikipedia-ref-40-ge-flaw-causing-global-website-shutdowns`, snapshot `20261025T114552Z`. Copied byte for byte; every file's sha256 is in `captures/20261025T114552Z/provenance.json` and was re-checked against the watch's own hashes.

#### What the page says

_Curator's reading of the capture._

The Guardian, 22 October: what PHP is and how serious the flaw causing website shutdowns is. It says sites in Canada, Japan and Germany were taken down temporarily while a fix was applied; quotes the PHP Foundation that the issues 'sit in parts of PHP that nearly every request touches: memory management and error handling'; says the vendor Hadrian labelled the pair a 'PHP2Shell exploitation'; quotes the US NSA that the memory corruption could 'provide a direct path to the server's file system or database'; and says the PHP Foundation said a number of security companies broke the embargo after the leak, while Amazon identified an attempt dating to four days before disclosure. On discovery, it says the PHP Foundation worked with Anthropic's frontier model to scan its code and had PHP put into OpenAI's programme.

> A number of security companies did break the embargo after the leak, according to the PHP Foundation

#### Why it is here

From the promotion queue (`index/promote.json`, priority 2): Mentions CVE-2026-109618/109619 or php2shell: "What is PHP and how serious is the computer language flaw causing website shutdowns? | Data and computer security | The Guardian". Selected mechanically, not read by a person. Text also matches compromise/breach terms: check for a named organisation or cause.

#### Capture notes

Language `en`. Nothing in the page addresses an AI or hides text from a reader.

## Claims that cite it

No claim cites this source yet.

## Events that cite it

No timeline event cites this source yet.

## The bytes
capture 20261025T114552Z · HTTP 200 · https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/22/what-is-php-computer-language-flaw-causing-global-website-shutdowns- `headers.json` e3f3b89fd0fcf57d8f184ef95f69bd71d64a2f17536ea0f04c0c1099b8cc2432 3,753 bytes
- `page.html` c8fbc745f9c6267a2cbf2a65cbab04ed49e93815f3647c1f568b3c05ccca5d4b 548,842 bytes
- `provenance.json` 583acebd1d1d1a99ada4329c9743b0a00579c907504ccc434dcb3554722e1e53 1,871 bytes
- `rendered.html` 8f8d7c88abb65102927d785b219b47f0db13a7fa7198c5683a79eca0cb2e82cf 575,986 bytes
- `screenshot.jpg` abe9f1b91ffa3649f4eaee3276b915425b41859ce181aeb62053a204fb7edfb4 848,074 bytes
- `text.txt` 42e1b49234f03f2417c4a904de5f988c6c1fec4e61e8752e1a5605bf75534691 10,747 bytes

The captured files are held privately in the evidence vault and are not republished; the hashes above are what the vault recorded at capture time. [Every source →](../index.html)


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site v0.22.26 · data as of 2026-10-25T14:40Z · vault commit 94352a55fbaa · https://refs.php.oct.2026.newsroom.sgit.ai/sources/guardian-wikipedia-ref-40-ge-flaw-causing-global/index.html