Critical PHP vulnerability triggers global emergency fixes, websites in many regions temporarily offline.

For a second day, websites around the world have been scrambling to update and protect themselves against vulnerabilities in PHP, a widely used programming language, as researchers warned that hackers have already attempted to exploit them. The fallout from the security issue began on Wednesday after researchers disclosed they had found two critical flaws in PHP that could leave organizations using the language to build websites and software platforms exposed to cyberattacks. More than 30 UK government services remained offline on Thursday while security updates were being deployed, Elizabeth Lloyd, the UK minister for space, cyber and regulatory reform, said in a statement submitted to the House of Lords. "We are working with departments to carefully bring services back online once the relevant fixes have been completed, ensuring they are restored securely," she said. Telecom operator Orange said in a statement on Thursday that it had suspended access to some of its websites and applications while it deployed security patches for the vulnerabilities. PHP is one of the most widely used technologies on the internet, powering millions of websites, with as many as 70 percent of internet sites relying on it as their underlying foundation. As a result, any vulnerability can have a cascading effect along the internet software supply chain, exposing online services to data theft, malware attacks and security breaches. Temporarily taking websites offline can prevent attackers from reaching and exploiting vulnerabilities while they are being fixed. The developers who maintain PHP released a software update on Wednesday to fix the vulnerabilities and urged users to update immediately.