Security Update – PHP Vulnerability

We are aware of the recent critical PHP security vulnerabilities highlighted by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on 21st October 2026.

We would like to reassure customers that our main platforms, 4Matrix Cloud and 4Matrix Fusion, do not use PHP and are therefore not directly affected by these vulnerabilities.

PHP is used within some of our supporting systems, including our customer support ticketing and billing systems. Our desktop application also communicates with our sales system for licence verification. These systems do not store customers' payment details or sensitive information as part of the licence verification process.

We have been in contact with our hosting provider, Krystal, who has confirmed that the necessary security fixes have been applied to address the reported vulnerabilities.

No action is required from our customers in relation to this advisory.

We take the security of our systems and customer information seriously and will continue to monitor security developments and work with our hosting provider to maintain appropriate protections.

How to update demographics for a series after an MIS import

4Matrix Cloud

In 4Matrix Cloud, running an MIS extract will not retrospectively update demographics for existing series. This is because 4Matrix does not know which series you need to apply the changes to.

To update one or more series with the latest information from your MIS:

  • Select the relevant Academic Year in the Data Selection panel to ensure you're working with the correct cohort/pupils.
  • Select Admin > Series from the ribbon.
  • Click on the series name in the Name column.
  • In the screen that opens, select the Pupils tab.
  • Select all pupils (check the box to the left of the Forename column)
  • In the Bulk Actions menu, select Populate Fields By Date
  • Select the date on which to base all values on (this would usually be the same as the series date). This process checks the date you have supplied against the dates in the Demographics tool to determine whether or not (for example) a pupil was Pupil Premium on that date. 
  • Select Save Changes.
  • A confirmation message should appear.

 

18/09/2025