Japan urges site operators to patch PHP flaw or pause sites; no damage reported
In short
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on 22 October that temporarily taking websites offline is an effective way to reduce risk after a serious vulnerability was found in the PHP programming language. He said the government had received no reports of related damage so far. Several government and party websites are unavailable.
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Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on 22 October that temporarily stopping a website is one effective way to lower risk after a serious vulnerability was found in PHP, a programming language widely used for websites. Nippon TV reported that he issued the warning again. He said the government had so far received no reports of related damage. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Kihara said: "Temporarily suspending websites and the like is also one effective measure for reducing risk." According to Jiji Press, he called on operators to apply the fix patch and pointed out that suspending a website is effective if that is difficult. Jiji Press said he indicated the government intends to keep warning relevant parties. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Nippon TV said the flaw is a serious defect that can lead to unauthorised operation from outside. Prime Minister Takaichi had asked on X on the night of 21 October, as an urgent request, that anyone using PHP apply the fix or consider temporarily suspending their website. [ 1 , 2 ]
Nippon TV reported that the websites of Takaichi personally, of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council chairman Kobayashi and of the Constitutional Democratic Party could not be viewed at the time because of the response to the PHP problem. It also said some content of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Finance and others had been stopped as a precaution. [ 1 , 2 ]
Jiji Press likewise said Kihara explained that government bodies, including the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Finance, had temporarily suspended publication of their web pages. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The government is asking operators of PHP-based sites to apply fixes or consider suspending them, and some official sites have already been taken offline as a precaution. The documents report no damage so far.
Key facts
- A serious vulnerability was found in PHP, a programming language widely used for websites; Nippon TV reported it is a flaw that can lead to unauthorised operation from outside. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Prime Minister Takaichi asked on X on the night of 21 October, as an urgent request, that users of PHP apply the fix or consider temporarily suspending their websites. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Chief Cabinet Secretary Kihara said on 22 October that temporarily suspending websites is one effective way to reduce risk. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Kihara said the government had received no reports of related damage so far. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Finance have temporarily suspended some content. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Nippon TV reported that the websites of Takaichi personally, of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council chairman Kobayashi and of the Constitutional Democratic Party could not be viewed because of the PHP response. [ 1 , 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Kihara said the government has received no reports of damage related to the PHP vulnerability so far. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Kihara said temporarily suspending websites can reduce risk. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Finance have taken temporary suspension measures for some content. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether any damage has occurred from the PHP vulnerability. Kihara said only that no related damage had been reported to the government so far.
- Which websites beyond those named remain unavailable. The documents name the sites of Takaichi, Kobayashi, the Constitutional Democratic Party and parts of two ministries, and say the ministries are among others; no full list is given.