Two major security vulnerabilities in PHP — the language underpinning a large share of the world's websites — were identified with the help of AI, prompting the PHP Foundation to release fixes.

The situation escalated when details of the weaknesses leaked online, forcing the planned release to be brought forward.

Ondřej Surý, who had received advance warning from the PHP project, told BBC News he realized the severity early: "I got aware that this is quite severe and I don't have that much time to prepare the packaging of the PHP that I provide to people."

The result was an international race by administrators to install security updates before criminals could exploit the gaps.

The PHP Foundation's fixes were only source code; ordinary site operators needed a practical way to install them.

Surý, for free, dropped everything to convert them into ready-to-install packages for Debian and Ubuntu, the Linux distributions commonly used on web servers — a volunteer role he has held for more than two decades alongside his day job as director of DNS engineering at the US non-profit Internet Systems Consortium.

"The feeling is like I am responsible for all these people and I can't fail them," he told BBC News. Online, some described the effort as helping "save the internet," though he modestly credited the PHP project people as underrecognized.

The response brought an unusual financial measure of gratitude: ET Now reports Surý received more than $10,000 in donations within a few days, which he said equaled roughly a year's worth of contributions under normal circumstances.

He argued major technology companies that depend on open source should contribute more consistently, warning, "If you just take and don't give back then it will backfire."

He also noted colleagues at software company Freexian could eventually take over his packaging work, though they do not yet have the same accumulated experience — underscoring how much critical infrastructure rests on a small number of individuals.

Surý told BBC News he believes this was the most severe PHP incident in years, but that AI's improving cybersecurity capabilities mean it may not stay isolated. The same technology that helps defenders find flaws faster can also help attackers discover them first.

His conclusion for the community: people should be prepared to act this quickly more often, because similar incidents could happen again in the near future — a direct challenge to how open-source maintainers and the companies relying on them plan for the next emergency.