PHP versions 7.2.29, 7.3.16, and 7.4.4

The PHP developers recently released versions 7.2.29, 7.3.16 and 7.4.4 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 series on our servers as a result.

In addition, the authors of ionCube Loader and SourceGuardian Loader have made them available for the PHP 7.4 series, so our copy of PHP 7.4.4 now supports both of those.

These changes should not be noticeable, but as always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any trouble.

Change to SSH “RSA key fingerprint”

We’ve made a change to one of the SSH keys our servers use, and this post explains why a small number of customers may see a warning message as a result. If you don’t use SSH to connect to the command-line shell (most people don’t), you can ignore this post completely.

The change is that the RSA key has been increased in size (to 2,048 bits) to ensure that sites we host pass PCI compliance scans. (This change was unavoidable, because security companies are saying that any keys created years ago using the then-recommended size, like our previous one, must be replaced.)

Most modern SSH software now uses ECDSA keys instead of RSA keys, so this won’t affect most people. But if your SSH software still uses RSA keys, you may see a message like this:

Warning: the RSA host key for 'example.com' differs from the
key for the IP address '192.0.2.3'
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Or even more alarmingly, like this:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now
(man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the RSA key sent by the remote host is
21:24:65:80:55:5e:8c:e2:d9:6d:21:43:ef:07:3f:21.

If you see either of these, it’s expected and okay. It’s telling you that it thinks the RSA host key has changed since the last time you connected — which it has.

If your SSH client software completely prevents you from connecting because of an existing entry in your computer’s “known_hosts” file, removing the line it mentions from that file will fix it.

The next time you connect after doing that, you’ll be prompted to add the new key. You can verify the key fingerprint it shows you on our SSH page.

Sites hosted with us aren’t affected by today’s “Let’s Encrypt” SSL security bug

We provide free Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates for all sites hosted with our company.

Recently, Let’s Encrypt found a problem with some certificates that could cause site visitors to see security warnings if the certificate wasn’t renewed before noon Pacific time today (March 4, 2020).

Our customers don’t need to worry, though. We’ve already renewed any affected certificates, so the problem will not affect any sites we host.

There’s a website at checkhost.unboundtest.com you can use to test your certificate if you want to be sure. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.