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.

Can I change a subjects discount code?

Yes you can, but we recommend reading the following first:

The easiest way to check the status and discount codes of the subjects/qualifications in the active series is to go to Admin > Edit Subjects > File > Print > Subject Report

The last update to include changes to qualification statuses and add approved qualifications was issued in February 2024. This included all validated 9-1 qualifications for 2024 and 2025 and set the correct statuses for all other KS4 qualifications.

If you believe that a qualification is not counting correctly in performance measures, then you can amend the status (and other parameters such as the discount code, how it is handled in EBacc, Progress 8 etc) using the Edit Qualifications tool.

The quickest way to go about this is to go to Admin > Edit Subjects, choose the subject on the left and click Edit Qualification in the top right. You can then use the table in the bottom right of the display to change the settings. If you are unsure about how to do this or would like further advice before making the changes, please contact us.