Service Update: Intermittent Issues Across PKP Sites

Some PKP services, including the PKP Community Forum and PKP’s translation website, are currently experiencing intermittent issues. You may find the sites loading slowly or temporarily offline.

Our systems team is aware of the problem and is working to restore full service as quickly as possible. This downtime is related to the critical PHP security updates our team is applying across our infrastructure to keep our services and your data secure.

On October 21st, the PHP team released emergency security fixes for two critical vulnerabilities, CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, known as “PHP2Shell.” PHP is the programming language that powers over 70% of all web applications, including OJS, OMP, and OPS, as well as WordPress and Drupal.

This is a vulnerability in PHP itself, not in OJS, OMP, or OPS. It affects any website running on PHP, and fixes need to be applied to the server. If you are self-hosting OJS, OMP, or OPS, please contact your hosting provider or IT team and ask them to apply the latest PHP security update as soon as possible.

If your journal is hosted with PKP Publishing Services, no action is needed. Our systems team has already completed the required PHP upgrades.