In this blog post, I’ll show you how PHP is used by the CMS and why patched PHP is important for CMS users. I light up the consequences of using PHP versions that have reached the end of their life cycle (EOL) and explain how mittwald supports applications that run on EOL PHP versions.
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How PHP is used in content management systems
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The consequences of using EOL-PHP in your CMS
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Security
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Performance
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Stability
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Therefore a patched PHP is important
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So you can continue to use EOL-PHP
How PHP is used in content management systems
Content management systems use PHP to create websites, website components and interfaces. PHP is used to generate the frontend and management backend, controls design elements, calls HTML views, enters specified content and provides complete control and customization capabilities for web applications.
Other uses of PHP in CMS include:
- Retrieving content from the database
- Validation of user rights
- Processing form fields, image uploads, document uploads
The consequences of using EOL-PHP in your CMS
When developers use EOL (End of Life)-PHP, they usually know the risks. Often, however, they do not have the time to upgrade the skills or resources in time. Migrations to updated versions are postponed, which leads to serious consequences. Security, performance and stability of CMS web applications are no longer given.
Security
Security is the biggest problem when using EOL PHP versions in CMS applications. The PHP ecosystem is constantly evolving. Each year, new vulnerabilities are discovered in unsupported PHP versions. If these weak points are exploited, the consequences can be severe.
When PHP versions reach the end of their lifecycle, the community stops providing security patches for this version. Users can then be protected against already patched security holes, but they quickly become vulnerable to new risks. If these vulnerabilities are not fixed, they will eventually be exploited by attackers.
Performance
In addition to the increased vulnerability to security risks, the use of EOL-PHP versions can also affect the overall performance of the CMS. PHP versions provide new features to improve the developer experience and add improvements to the language that can reduce overall development, hosting and hardware costs.
As a result, using unsupported PHP versions can lead to higher costs and worse user experience, which will harm your business. The higher your website traffic, the more significant these impacts will be, as you struggle with rising maintenance costs, operating costs and potential winnings.
