The gaming community is facing a major crisis.

Don’t be shocked if your go-to gaming sites are down this Wednesday. A significant security vulnerability has been uncovered, affecting nearly every major website online. This includes platforms like Wikipedia, Slack, Spotify, and even adult sites. WordPress, which powers about a quarter of the web, is also at risk.

While a fix is in the works, the vulnerability will remain active for a full day.

The internet may not just be a collection of tubes, but a lot of it relies on a back-end technology known as PHP. To put it simply, PHP enables servers to fetch the necessary data to create and display web pages. It allows sites built with static HTML to dynamically change based on user interactions, managing the site’s logic and content delivery.

What you really need to grasp is that a huge chunk of the internet runs on PHP.

Here’s the catch: an unidentified source has recently revealed two PHP vulnerabilities that could potentially let malicious actors execute remote code without needing authentication or security credentials. This means hackers could delete data at will or use websites to inject harmful scripts. They could even lock systems until a ransom is paid. The potential for misuse is as vast as it is alarming.

The PHP Foundation is actively working on patches for these vulnerabilities, but the fix won’t be ready until Wednesday, October 21, at 2 p.m. UTC. Affected websites have been advised to prepare for an update at that time. Already, popular sites like 4chan, Something Awful, DeviantArt, and Fur Affinity have either gone offline or switched to read-only mode.

More critical sites, including those for regional healthcare providers and national public services, are also taking precautions. Websites hosted on platforms like Amazon Web Services have been alerted to the issue, while services like Cloudflare are implementing emergency measures. As the internet gears up for this, there’s already evidence that hackers are trying to exploit the vulnerability, with botnets scanning for potential targets.