Update on why our forum was down yesterday scroll late hours today !

[Sammysmart001]

This na from meta board

Before we see 10 topics asking the same question...

BitcoinTalk runs on the PHP programming language.

Today the PHP team released an emergency update that fixes PHP2Shell, a vulnerability that could potentially hack into any server that has a website running PHP.

theymos had to shutdown the forum to update PHP to the latest version.

Technical details:

https://www.php2shell.com
https://github.com/php/php-src/security/advisories/GHSA-6wmf-4rv5-p3rp
https://github.com/php/php-src/security/advisories/GHSA-w8hw-w9fx-j79w

Many other websites were taken offline today, for updating.

I guess we're good now.

This really indeed fealt like a long 12hours! But also having to deal with a vulnerability this severe, it definitely a right move for taking the forum offline.

This much better for the admin to pull the pug immediately and update the PHP servers than to con wake up and noticed that our entire forum database is hacked. Kudos to theymos and the team for doing a great job to act fast and keeping the forum safe. It much better for this little downtime then a permanent disaster



Update from daddy theymos

A couple of very serious PHP vulnerabilities were published with very little advance notice. Bitcointalk.org runs on PHP. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to react to the announcement quite in time, so the forum wasn't shut down until around 14:30 UTC, 30 minutes after the public announcement of the vulnerability details, and about 7 hours after some details had begun to leak.

Therefore, after upgrading PHP, I spent a lot of time investigating things to see if there were any traces of any successful attacks, but I couldn't find any. Several attacks were attempted, but those particular attacks were blocked by Cloudflare, and also would've failed anyway due to certain configuration details. Also, there were no logs of php-fpm processes crashing, or of a large number of POSTs in quick succession in the vulnerable window -- either/both of which I think would've been seen in a successful attack. I also checked a large number of other things, including checking some sensitive database tables for changes, checking aggregate network stats, checking various possible ways that backdoor-insertion could've been attempted, etc.; but there were no such traces that I could find. That said, there simply isn't comprehensive enough logging to completely exclude the possibility of a successful attack that I wasn't subsequently able to detect.

Probably, no action is required for most people. If you want to be extra safe, it wouldn't hurt to change your password (mainly just to invalidate all of your sessions).

[Nwada001]

We get admin way active and eh no they wait make things xup first before eh go take action, and the warning signal for the forum error loading page remove fear for piple body mke person no come they feel say dem don hijack our forum.. the update take several hours but eh worth am.

[Yablee0]

Honestly speaking, at first I was curious why the sudden network issues. However, I tried several times to login but all to null and vain. It was at that point I tried to reach out to some few members if they were also having the same difficulties in logging in and they confirmed to me that they are also having the same problem. It was in the later hours that an official statement was given sighting the main challenge and when they will be back.

For real when you have an Oga wey Sabi eh, I no think say you go ever dey mislead. I want to say a Big shout-out to everyone that has make this update a successful one. Of a truth, some couples of hours away from the forum is like a whole year in real life.

[ZeroVinsonN]

We get admin way active and eh no they wait make things xup first before eh go take action, and the warning signal for the forum error loading page remove fear for piple body mke person no come they feel say dem don hijack our forum.. the update take several hours but eh worth am.

Better safe than sorry abeg.
I been no really notice the whole thing, the kind busy way I dey yesterday was too much, I open forum for night e no open I just tell myself say na network go sleep so it was surprising to see that something like this happened yesterday but it's also good to know that the problem has been taken care of, if the attacks that happened weren't blocked them maybe we wouldn't have lost complete access to the forum.

[Tmoonz]

Honestly speaking, at first I was curious why the sudden network issues. However, I tried several times to login but all to null and vain. It was at that point I tried to reach out to some few members if they were also having the same difficulties in logging in and they confirmed to me that they are also having the same problem. It was in the later hours that an official statement was given sighting the main challenge and when they will be back.

For real when you have an Oga wey Sabi eh, I no think say you go ever dey mislead. I want to say a Big shout-out to everyone that has make this update a successful one. Of a truth, some couples of hours away from the forum is like a whole year in real life.

Honestly I panicked initially but on seeing that it was a general issue I became calm and hopeful that everything is going to be resolved just a matter of time. Indeed, that was the longest time out I have seen since I got in to the forum but however, it was for the betterment of the community and all thanks for the oga wey sabi lol that came very fast enough to respond to what was happening. Whatever this maybe, they may likely come back and I urge the oga wey sabi to be very much at alert ahead of time by putting everything necessary thing in order, am happy we here again.

[Bigjoe33]

For me, forum has become part of my normal life, and it was problematic to me when I was unable yo access it. When I got the info about maintenance issues, I tried remaining calm to see how long this would take.
Then when I read the news from BBC about taking websites offline inorder to ensure safety, I felt a bit relief. All I never knew was how long it would take, but I really wanted it back.

It seemed like a whole day and week without getting to interact here. Indeed, the forum and it's information has become part of me, and am sure to some persons too. So happy everything is normal now.

[New Judgement]

Update from daddy theymos

The person wey you dey call daddy so, you know how many years the guy dey? Make e no go shock you say na you senior the guy well well. Anyway him fit be your daddy sha. Some of us don old to senior the man.

E good as the forum get back online. I go equally thank the administrator for taking a proactive step to make sure say the forum dey protected. The thing been just weak me yesterday, unto say na this forum person dey come spend time when person no dey do anything. As e con be say the forum con dey down for those hours, omo e con be like say na punishment for me. Na when I con see the update say dem go restore the forum today, na in my body con rest. The thing con make me go sleep early yesterday. Thank God say everything don dey okay now.

[Son Of Blockchain (SOB)]

Edited..

Honestly I panicked initially but on seeing that it was a general issue I became calm and hopeful that everything is going to be resolved just a matter of time. Indeed, that was the longest time out I have seen since I got in to the forum but however, it was for the betterment of the community and all thanks for the oga wey sabi lol that came very fast enough to respond to what was happening. Whatever this maybe, they may likely come back and I urge the oga wey sabi to be very much at alert ahead of time by putting everything necessary thing in order, am happy we here again.

We been done experience something similar last year so i no really see any reason to panic, although this time around eh take very long, wey come make me dey suspect say dem wan hack the forum but when I see the message wey say dem go possibly resume on 21st or 22nd my mind just calm down.
 Eh good as our Oga dey take the security of this forum seriously cause dem say prevention better pass cure. Although dem no discover any direct threat but eh good at them temporary shutdown to audit the site for safety reasons.

[Karl_3000]

We were not informed before that the forum will be taken down, but aside that, the forum admin handled the situation perfectly. There was a maintenance notice and that the forum will be back online either yesterday night or today, and the forum is back online now. The admin has been trying so much, well done to them. Everyone can continue posting now.

[Itz-prisigold]

For me, forum has become part of my normal life, and it was problematic to me when I was unable yo access it. When I got the info about maintenance issues, I tried remaining calm to see how long this would take.
Then when I read the news from BBC about taking websites offline inorder to ensure safety, I felt a bit relief. All I never knew was how long it would take, but I really wanted it back.

It seemed like a whole day and week without getting to interact here. Indeed, the forum and it's information has become part of me, and am sure to some persons too. So happy everything is normal now.

Well you've already said what I was thinking!  This forum has become a part of my daily routine, and yesterday was really somehow without it. I was active creating a post when the forum went down and then received the 503 service message. Throughout yesterday I continued checking to see if everything was normal.  But waking up this morning I was very pleased to see everything running as it should.

A very Big Thanks to theymos for the speedy reaction to ensure the forum's safety. It truly highlights the importance of having a very active admin that cares a lot about security.

[Jasmyne]

We were not informed before that the forum will be taken down, but aside that, the forum admin handled the situation perfectly. There was a maintenance notice and that the forum will be back online either yesterday night or today, and the forum is back online now. The admin has been trying so much, well done to them. Everyone can continue posting now.

When you have a proactive admin once he gets an information that requires urgent attention instead of waiting to see it happening the best thing is to swing into action to ensure the safety of the forum and everybody that's exactly what the admin did.The notice came when they had began doing some underground work to ensure the safety of the forum (my opinion) and the information they put out regarding the maintenance and time we should expect the forum to be back was the best thing to do to avoid panic as a result of the information of security threat that was released few days ago. Thank God everything is resolved now and members are back with their daily activities let's enjoy every moment we have.

[KawasakiNinja1_]

Actually I noticed this error while logging into the forum and after many attempts was unable to log into the forum, indeed this forum is down for maintenance due to major php issue many of us panicked after seeing this post but the admin of this forum very conscientiously updated the PHP servers and kept our bitcoin forum safe.

Even websites around the world have been shut down due to this PHP scare as I have noticed that Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic have shut down their official websites due to these bugs, even Rotterdam in the Netherlands has shut down their websites and it's also true that the organization that runs Wikipedia shut down some of its systems until the bugs could be fixed.



https://x.com/coinbureau/status/2113081654541742292

[Cookdata]

When you have a proactive admin once he gets an information that requires urgent attention instead of waiting to see it happening the best thing is to swing into action to ensure the safety of the forum and everybody that's exactly what the admin did.The notice came when they had began doing some underground work to ensure the safety of the forum (my opinion) and the information they put out regarding the maintenance and time we should expect the forum to be back was the best thing to do to avoid panic as a result of the information of security threat that was released few days ago. Thank God everything is resolved now and members are back with their daily activities let's enjoy every moment we have.

Theymos is from US and I think the report yesterday says many Latin American banks and companies were the first that shutdown their website for patch and since Theymos is from US, he got the information and did the same before even updating the forum about the reason for the offline, although there are some reports that attackers were able to exploit some organization website but Bitcointalk was fine and nothing to worry. The FBI, US cyber securities all were warning yesterday for everyone safety.

Even websites around the world have been shut down due to this PHP scare as I have noticed that Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic have shut down their official websites due to these bugs, even Rotterdam in the Netherlands has shut down their websites and it's also true that the organization that runs Wikipedia shut down some of its systems until the bugs could be fixed.

About 70% of websites are built on PHP because of its versatility with backend, most them were taking caution than wait for disasters to happen. In Nigeria alone, many organizations and agencies websites are built on PHP but to my surprise, they didn't bother to give any update on this vulnerability. No single Nigeria bank went offline yesterday neither gave an update.

[Livingleged]

We were not informed before that the forum will be taken down, but aside that, the forum admin handled the situation perfectly. There was a maintenance notice and that the forum will be back online either yesterday night or today, and the forum is back online now. The admin has been trying so much, well done to them. Everyone can continue posting now.

We mustn’t be informed to take important and quick actions like this. I was in the forum when it was shutdown, I literally thought it was just an error but after waiting for few minutes, its wasn’t still back. That was when I started asking questions and making further research until I saw a news about PHP2shell vulnerabilities on one cyber security news handle on X, and I tried reaching few other site that also runs on php were also not responding so I remain calm for the rest of the day.
That was a quick one from theymos though, it only prove how active dedicated he’s to his admin job even though he doesn’t post often here on the forum.

[rachael9385]

Then when I read the news from BBC about taking websites offline inorder to ensure safety, I felt a bit relief. All I never knew was how long it would take, but I really wanted it back.

The main issue as to why the forum was unaccessible yesterday was because the site was going through maintenance which is necessary for every forum or platform to ensure that nothing goes wrong in the long run. I was also worried about how long it would take until I saw thae duration that was given, I had to wait patiently.

It seemed like a whole day and week without getting to interact here. Indeed, the forum and it's information has become part of me, and am sure to some persons too. So happy everything is normal now.

We have gotten used to being active on the forum and when we spend a day without getting involved it almost feels like the day is incomplete but we are glad that it's up and running, since necessary updates has been made we expect it to be this way for a long period of time.

[7juju]

Wow, this was what happened. I tried to access the forum yesterday and I noticed it wasn’t opening. I thought it was just one of those things that does happen. I didn’t pay much attention to it, I just know that some how the forum will get back online. Initially I thought it was my network acting up!! Glad no harm was done to the community.

[Patrol69]

Maintenance has been going on many times before, but I have never seen maintenance going on for such a long time. I was a little worried that there had been a cyber attack on the forum, but when I tried to log in to the forum the last time, I got a message saying that the forum was under maintenance and it might take until the 21st or 22nd to be fully completed. After seeing such a message, I was a little reassured that a major update was coming to the server and I was waiting for it.

[Sticky Bomb]

We were not informed before that the forum will be taken down

There was no time to give such an information, and it was best that it was not given because it would've given the bad actors a pre information and they would've intensifies their efforts to hurt the forum site before the downtime. If you read theymos update here.

Several attacks were attempted, but those particular attacks were blocked by Cloudflare, and also would've failed anyway due to certain configuration details.

When situations are as critical as the one yesterday, you don't need publicity, but swift action to prevent exploitation since both hackers got the security update as well. It was a much professional practice giving the situational report after taking the site down and away from danger than before it.

[Nightwatchmare]

Sometimes if i try to access the forum it will not open, so when i tried to access the forum yesterday, and it did not open, i thought it  was the usual thing i used to experience. It was when i logged to  X  (formally known Twitter) and see that PHP was under attack, and when i tried to access the forum again i saw the same thing in the forum that was when i knew the forum was shutdown to prevent any vulnerability. It is good that theymos was informed of the attack on PHP and took quick action in protecting the database of the forum from entering the hands of the wrong person. Kudos to theymos

[Marykeller]

For me, forum has become part of my normal life, and it was problematic to me when I was unable yo access it. When I got the info about maintenance issues, I tried remaining calm to see how long this would take.
Then when I read the news from BBC about taking websites offline inorder to ensure safety, I felt a bit relief. All I never knew was how long it would take, but I really wanted it back.

It seemed like a whole day and week without getting to interact here. Indeed, the forum and it's information has become part of me, and am sure to some persons too. So happy everything is normal now.

No be lie, the forum done become part of our normal life. Some hours not even a day of not logging in d be like sae d comot something for our body. Thank God sae wetin happen na global thing, no be wetin our forum suffer alone. Cos as for, if na wetin our forum be suffer alone, no be everybody go fit stay calm, to trust the process say our forum go come back to normalcy after 12hrs of no access to it.

Well, this incident don simply show us how this forum don become our every day life that we can't do without.