Research collected from outside sources and what this site derives from them; every fact links to a saved copy of its source Research or story?
Fact · impact · reported
The Wikimedia Foundation took down a number of systems 'as a precautionary measure until they can be safely patched'
No Wikimedia-published statement captured.
Fact-check
A4 Corroborated●●●●○○ · Quote · verdict: holds
The quoted words are verbatim in The Cyber Express and, outside this claim's citations, in Newsweek (emailed statement to Newsweek) and the Reuters factbox, which each received the Foundation's statement; CNN independently carries "precautionary measure". Several independent outlets but no Wikimedia-published page, so A4; "reported" fits.
| Capture checked | Result | What it says | sha256 of the text read |
|---|---|---|---|
| cyberexpress-php2shell-gov-sites | carries | “We have taken down a number of other systems as a precautionary measure until they can be safely patched,” the Wikimedia Foundation said | f45bc7599367343e |
| cnn-php2shell-websites-shut | partial | and that a number of its systems had been taken down as a “precautionary measure.” | ee49fc4265ae1c7c |
| newsweek-php2shell-websites | carries | We have taken down a number of other systems as a precautionary measure until they can be safely patched. | 323ccf78f4d6f2d0 |
| reuters-factbox-websites-offline | carries | "We have taken down a number of other systems as a precautionary measure until they can be safely patched," the foundation added. | d562e28995b00a19 |
| insiderpaper-archive-wikipedia (in the vault, not yet on this site) | partial | It said several systems had been taken offline as a precaution while security patches were being applied. | dba4741ae1b287de |
| wikimediastatus-page (in the vault, not yet on this site) | absent | All Systems Operational | 13e068d2c2b3665d |
Open tickets: Finding-114, Finding-29.
Graded in Run-1, resting on captures up to 2026-10-22 11:30 UTC. The scale is on the fact-check page.
This fact over time
- 2026-10-21CNN publishes Websites shut down globally after AI finds a critical flaw affecting 70% of the internet | CNN Business
- 2026-10-21The Cyber Express publishes PHP2Shell CVE-2026-109618 PHP Flaw Hits Gov Sites
- 2026-10-22 11:26 UTCSaved into the evidence vault: CNN
- 2026-10-22 11:26 UTCSaved into the evidence vault: The Cyber Express
- 2026-10-22Enters this site as reported in v0.2.0 (reconstructed from git)
Published: when the source says it was published. Saved: the first capture into the evidence vault. The rest are this site: the release in which the fact first appeared and every release that changed its wording, sources or status.
What it rests on
Where this fact appears
In the briefings for:
And on every claim.
Every version of this fact
v1 · site v0.2.0 · 22 October 2026 · reported
The Wikimedia Foundation took down a number of systems 'as a precautionary measure until they can be safely patched' Who says it: the Foundation, as quoted by CNN and The Cyber Express Status: reported Topic: impact Sources: cnn-php2shell-websites-shut, cyberexpress-php2shell-gov-sites