‘Many UvA websites and services temporarily offline due to PHP security vulnerability’
Many UvA websites and services were temporarily inaccessible on Wednesday due to a vulnerability in the widely used programming language PHP. The university announced this on its staff intranet. The measure is intended to protect systems and data.
A vulnerability in the popular programming language PHP has prompted several universities to take their websites offline as a precaution on Wednesday. The vulnerability makes websites that use PHP relatively easy to hack.
Due to serious security vulnerabilities in PHP, many University of Amsterdam websites and services have also been temporarily taken offline as a precaution. The UvA announced this on its staff intranet. It is not yet clear exactly which websites and services are affected.
According to the university, all exams will go ahead as scheduled. The rooster.uva.nl timetable website also remains accessible. However, students and staff may experience temporary disruption when visiting websites or using UvA services. The university does not yet know when all affected websites will be available again.
Other universities have also temporarily taken their websites offline today. These include Radboud University, Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Eindhoven University of Technology. SURF, the ICT organisation serving Dutch education and research institutions, has also suspended several services. In addition, several university media outlets, including Propria Cures, Mare, AdValvas, Vox and Univers, have been taken offline. Folia remains online.
The vulnerability has also temporarily affected the availability of various government websites, hospitals, the House of Representatives, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and public transport companies.
An update to fix the PHP vulnerability is now available, according to the NOS.
This article was updated at 16:12.
