PHP2Shell security vulnerability: UCware, Moodle, Mahara and LimeSurvey temporarily offline
Down – Ongoing
+++ UPDATE 2026-10-21 17:14 +++
Since a vulnerability has also been found in the updated version of PHP, the systems must remain shut down.
Unfortunately, eduVPN is also affected by the shutdown.
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Dear students, dear colleagues,
Today, a serious security vulnerability in the PHP programming language became known, referred to as “PHP2Shell.” Many web applications worldwide are based on PHP, including several HM systems. Among those affected are UCware, Moodle, Mahara, and LimeSurvey.
Please note that as a result, telephony from the home office and from mobile phones using the UCware app is not possible.
What does this mean?
Through the vulnerability, attackers could remotely execute programs on the affected servers. This could allow them to take control of the systems and read or modify data.
What is HM doing?
To protect you and your data, we have proactively taken the affected systems offline. They will therefore be unavailable until further notice. As soon as the security updates are available and have been applied, we will bring the systems back online.
Where can I find current information?
You can find the current status at any time at https://status.hm.edu.
An easy-to-understand explanation of the security vulnerability is provided by the association Deutschland sicher im Netz:
We are aware that the outage restricts teaching, study, and administration. We are working hard to make the systems available again as quickly as possible, and ask for your understanding.
Kind regards
Your HM IT