PHP bug allowing site hijacking still menaces Internet 22 months on

A vulnerability that allows attackers to take control of websites running older versions of the PHP scripting language continues to threaten the Internet almost two years after security researchers first warned that attackers could use it to remotely execute malicious code on vulnerable servers.

As Ars reported 22 months ago, the code-execution exploits worked against PHP sites only when they ran in common gateway interface mode, a condition that applied by default to those running the Apache Web server. According to a blog post published Tuesday, CVE-2012-1823, as the vulnerability is formally indexed, remains under attack today by automated scripts that scour the Internet in search of sites that are susceptible to the attack. The sighting of in-the-wild exploits even after the availability of security patches underscores the reluctance of many sites to upgrade.