PHP2Shell and the end of the once-a-year pen test
On October 21, 2026, PHP shipped emergency fixes for two flaws that let anyone on the internet run code on a PHP web server, with no login. The weakness behind them had been flagged in 2024 and then sat, partly because nobody had proved it was exploitable. In 2026, researchers working with AI models proved it within days. Exploit attempts started before the fix shipped, and details leaked a day ahead of schedule. That sequence is the real story of PHP2Shell. The bug matters, but speed matters more.