At the University of Vienna, parts of the web offerings are still inaccessible. The background is critical security vulnerabilities related to PHP, a widely used programming language for websites and web applications. Certain websites of the university are expected to remain offline for security reasons until early November 2026. This is according to a maintenance notice.

While numerous other affected websites are already accessible again after security updates, the restrictions at the University of Vienna are still ongoing.

According to the report, the affected websites are part of a TYPO3 instance of the University of Vienna, which is managed via the address backend.univie.ac.at. The maintenance page states:

„The pages of the TYPO3 instance at https://backend.univie.ac.at are expected to remain offline for security reasons until early November.“

This confirms, according to the cited notice, that certain web offerings are currently unavailable. The specific faculty, institute, or service websites affected are not specified in the available report.

PHP is a programming language used on numerous web servers. It processes requests and provides dynamic web pages, among other things. Security vulnerabilities in the software used can, under certain conditions, allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems or execute malicious commands.

The severity of a vulnerability depends, among other things, on the software version used and the respective server configuration.

In the current case, successful attacks on the relevant security vulnerability have already been reported. The IT specialist portal Bleeping Computer reported on this, and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) also confirmed corresponding attacks.

Many affected websites have already been brought back online after the installation of appropriate security updates. At the University of Vienna, this is apparently not yet possible for all systems. Suitable corrective patches for the server software used there are not yet available.

A patch is a software update that can, among other things, close known security gaps. As long as a secure recommissioning cannot be guaranteed, the affected websites will remain offline as a precaution.

For students, university staff, and other users, this measure initially means that certain web services are temporarily unavailable.

The restrictions explicitly affect certain websites and should therefore not be equated with a complete IT failure of the university.

According to the maintenance notice, the University of Vienna expects that the affected websites will likely remain offline until early November 2026. A specific date for recommissioning has not been mentioned.

The decisive factor is likely to be when the affected systems can be sufficiently secured and safely operated again.

Further information is available on the official pages of the or the .

(Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article .