{
  "id": 16085707,
  "title": "PHP2Shell puts dozens of UK government services out of service",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/php2shell-puts-dozens-of-uk-government-services-out-of-service-16085707",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-22T16:05:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/10/22/php2shell-puts-dozens-of-uk-government-services-out-of-service/5304840"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The PHP2Shell security fiasco has left 32 UK government services offline and four partially unavailable, forcing Whitehall to scramble for a fix. In the House of Lords on Thursday, tech minister Baroness Lloyd of Effra revealed the disruption following the discovery of two critical flaws in PHP. While the full list of affected services remains undisclosed, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed its websites were taken offline, coinciding with next week's Budget. Disruptions have also been reported affecting the DVLA and police services. Notably, government websites in several European nations, including Germany, France, Belgium, Finland, and the Netherlands, were taken offline as a precaution, along with Australia's cybersecurity agency website. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warned organizations to patch immediately or go offline until the vulnerabilities could be fixed. Security firm Calif discovered one of the PHP bugs using OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model, while Google's Wiz uncovered both flaws with AI assistance. OpenAI then disclosed the vulnerabilities to vendors and government agencies. The government has set up a cross-departmental incident response operation to restore services safely and securely. Despite the disruption, Lloyd assured peers that there is no confirmed compromise of central government systems.",
  "summary": "Ministers report 32 unavailable and four partly disrupted, but no confirmed compromise",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}