PHP's emergency security update, scheduled for today, October 21, at 14:00 UTC, is now available. Ask your host to patch PHP and upgrade unsupported versions.
The PHP security team has released emergency fixes today, October 21, 2026, for two critical flaws that can let attackers run code on website servers without logging in.
The fixed versions are PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36, and 8.2.35. PHP says updating is the only safe choice because no workaround fully addresses the vulnerabilities.
PHP says all installations serving website requests are at risk. Apache servers using mod_php, which runs PHP directly inside Apache, face the highest risk. A demonstrated attack can run before the website’s own code starts.
PHP runs WordPress on your web server. Updating WordPress or its plugins will not update PHP. Ask your host to install the fix. If your hosting account lets you switch PHP versions through cPanel, confirm that the version you select includes the patch.
PHP 8.1 and older remain on the end-of-life list and no longer receive regular official updates.
For this emergency, PHP has provided limited source-code fixes for PHP 7.4, 8.0, and 8.1 for teams that build PHP themselves. Hosting providers and long-term support vendors may also supply their own updates. These fixes do not restore ongoing support. Ask your host to confirm protection while arranging an upgrade to a supported version.
International Cyber Digest reported that Dutch parliament and cyber agency websites, Finnish government web services, and university sites went offline ahead of the release.
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