ionCube News

- What we're working on
PHP 8.3 ionCube Encoder.
Updates to the Loader to fix some issues.
Updates to the ionCube Encoder GUI.
New online licensing portal.



1st Aug 2024 - Loader version 13.3.1 Update
Fix for enforced properties causing a license wrongly to be reported as
invalid with PHP 8.2 encoding.
Fix for the ReflectionParameter method isDefaultValueConstant() producing the
incorrect result with null defaults for PHP 7.3 and 7.4.


15th Jul 2024 - Encoder version 13.0.2
Encoder version 13.0.2 is released.
- Fix for a crash that could occur when applying class obfuscation.
- Fix for "Unexpected AST kind (513)" errors occurring due to enum value
properties occurring in constant expressions.
- Fix for obfuscation of classes producing an "interface not being found"
error for enums at runtime.
- Fix for obfuscation of classes producing a segmentation fault with enums.
- Fix for obfuscation of methods not being applied in all cases.


2nd Jul 2024 - Loader 13.3.0 Release
Loader 13.3.0 for PHP 8.3 adds runtime support for PHP 8.2 encoded files on PHP 8.3 machines.
This is the full release of the PHP 8.3 Loader following the beta.


7th Jun 2024 - Loader 13.3.0 Beta Release for PHP 8.3
Beta Loader 13.3.0 for PHP 8.3 adds runtime support for PHP 8.2 encoded files on PHP 8.3 machines.


31st May 2024 - Loader version 13.0.4 Update
Fix for a problem with static property operator assignments such as += with self or parent for PHP 8.1 and 8.2.
Fix for a missing symbol with the PHP 7.1 Loader.
Correction to builds for Windows for PHP 7 and below.


14th May 2024 - Loader version 13.0.3 Update
Fix for problems with named parameters where some parameters of the function being called are optional.
Fix for problems with files produced by 32-bit encoders, such as the Windows encoders.
New system for reflection for PHP 7.1+ where now the file applying reflection does not need to be encoded.
Fix for a build problem that produced a missing symbol fault for earlier versions of PHP such as 5.3.


11th Sep 2023 - Loader version 13.0.2 Update
Fix for potential crash if reading a file which from the first line looks like an
encoded file but isn't.
Mac M1 release for PHP 8.2


9th Sep 2023 - Encoder version 13.0.1
Encoder version 13.0.1 is released. The GUI has an enhancement
to the Export Project dialog, with an option added for generating
command line options on individual lines rather than the encoding
command as a single line. The Encoder also has a bug fix for the
scenario of encoding to a target located within the source tree,
which was incorrectly prevented for safety reasons even when the
option --allow-encoding-into-source was used.


31st Aug 2023 - Encoder version 13.0
New release: Encoder version 13 is released, now with PHP
8.2 support. A project template feature has been added to the GUI
in response to user requests, and more language bundling options
and various other GUI and documentation improvements are also included.


25th Aug 2023 - Loader version 13.0.1 Update
Temporarily removed the new reflection functionality that was introduced in 13.0.0
due to bug report.


24th Aug 2023 - Loader version 13.0.0 Release
Loader version 13.0.0 is now available.
This release includes loaders for PHP 8.2 for files produced by the 8.2 Encoder which
will be included in the forthcoming V13 ionCube PHP Encoder package.
It also includes an improvement to the handling of PHP's reflection methods
so the files applying reflection do not need to be encoded themselves for PHP 7.1+.


22nd Dec 2022 - Loader version 12.0.5 Update
Loader version 12.0.5 is now available.
Fix for not finding files in PHP 8.1 due to not defaulting back to the current working directory.
Fix for crashes occurring due to the include/require of non-existent files with PHP 8.1.


9th Dec 2022 - Loader version 12.0.4 Update
Loader version 12.0.4 is now available. Fix for a failure with ioncube_read_file for PHP before 8.1
when the second parameter was used.


2nd Dec 2022 - Loader version 12.0.3 Update
Loader version 12.0.3 is now available. This corrects a bug with the 32-bit Loaders which could cause a crash.
This release also fixes a bug with constants in the Windows Loaders.


9th Sep 2022 - Encoder and Loader version 12.0.2 Update
Encoder and Loader version 12.0.2 are now available. This Encoder update includes improved access to the Help documentation with the GUI and other minor UI enhancements. The Loader includes a fix for an issue that may occur with a particular PHP code pattern if encoding and running code on architectures of different word sizes, and a fix when using files that contain custom error messages on PHP 8.1.

View the release notes for this release.


25th Aug 2022 - Encoder version 12.0.1 Update
Encoder version 12.0.1 is now available. This free update to version 12.0 includes GUI support for bundling of PHP 7.4 and 8.1 encodings, various other new features and usability enhancements, plus documentation updates and a revised PHP header for encoded files.

View the release notes for this release.


12th Aug 2022 - Encoder version 12.0.0
Encoder version 12, with support for PHP 8.1 has now been released. There are accompanying version 12 loaders.


12th Jan 2022 - Loader version 11.0.1
Fix for an issue where for classes implementing the Countable interface the count() method might not be executable.


7th Jan 2022 - Loader for macOS M1 architecture
A Loader for the macOS M1 architecture is now available. This is currently released as a beta of the upcoming 11.0.1 Loader.


10th Dec 2021 - Version 11.0.2 Update
Version 11.0.2 is now released. This improves rendering of the toolbar on MacOS, particularly wth vertical orientation,
has a few fixes to the Special Edition GUI and minor documentation changes.


27th Nov 2021 - Version 11.0.1 Update
Version 11.0.1 is now released with an update for Linux, FreeBSD and MacOS versions.
Updating is recommended.


26th Nov 2021 - Black Friday Sale Now On
In our Black Friday offerings this year, upgrades to version 11 are Half Price
(50% discount to the already discounted price), with 25% off everything else.
The sale runs from 26th November to the 30th.


25th Nov 2021 - Encoder 11.0.0 released
Encoder 11.0.0 is now released. This adds support for encoding PHP 7.4 syntax, an alternative
and better performing way to skip project items, high DPI support, native dark mode
support on MacOS, along with various other improvements, updates and fixes. The MacOS release
is now exclusively 64 bit, and running on Apple Silicon M1 is supported via Rosetta.
View the full release notes.


22nd Oct 2021 - Loader version 11.0.0
Update for PHP 7.4 encoding with the forthcoming version 11 ionCube PHP Encoder.


24th Nov 2020 - Loader version 10.4.5
Fix for an issue with constant expressions involving some unary and binary operators on PHP 7.4.


2nd Oct 2020 - Loader version 10.4.4
Fix for a memory leak with class declarations in the PHP 7.0-7.4 Loaders.


8th Sep 2020 - Loader version 10.4.3
Fix for a regression in the 10.4.2 PHP 7.4 Loader which could lead to a zend_mm_heap corrupted error with WHMCS.


1st Sep 2020 - Loader version 10.4.2
Fix for an issue with the PHP 7.4 Loader where calling unserialize can result in a crash if the serialized value contains a class that has traits with properties.


13th Jul 2020 - Loader version 10.4.1
Fix for parent classes sometimes not being found in the PHP 7.4 Loader.
Fix for incorrect errors arising when a class implemented an abstract method through a trait in the PHP 7.4 Loader.
Corrected build for Aarch64 PHP 7.4 loaders.


29th Jun 2020 - Loader version 10.4.0
Loaders for PHP 7.4. These will run files produced by the PHP 7.1 and 7.2 encoders.
Fix for an issue with the encoded_paths ini setting on Windows.


28th Feb 2020 - Beta 2 ionCube Loaders for PHP 7.4 on Linux
Second beta release of PHP 7.4.0 ionCube Loaders for Linux. The beta 2 loaders will now run files produced by both the PHP 7.1 and 7.2 encoders.
However, the beta 2 loaders do not currently support IC24. Please let us know through our Support Help Desk of any issues you discover with these loaders.
We are aware of some issues with increased memory usage.


27th Feb 2020 - Beta ionCube Loaders for PHP 7.4 on Linux
Release of beta PHP 7.4.0 ionCube Loaders for Linux. At present they can only run files encoded with the version 10 PHP 7.2 Encoder but we aim to add support for 7.1-encoded files as soon as possible. The new loaders also do not currently support IC24. At the moment we are not aware of any issues with the loaders apart from some memory leaks.


24th Feb 2020 - ionCube Package Foundry 4.1.0 released
This update contains numerous UX improvements and several fixes. Updating is recommended.


16th Jan 2020 - ionCube Package Foundry 4.0.1 released
This minor update fixes an issue that could prevent an intro documentation file being
shown correctly when a user installs a package, plus a few user guide corrections.


29th Nov 2019 - Black Friday Sale Now On
The ionCube Black Friday sale is now on with a 35% saving on our prices!
The sale runs until Friday 6th December.


29th Nov 2019 - Mac OS X 64-bit Encoders Update: version 10.2.4
Version 10.2.4 of the Encoder package is now available for Mac OS X.
That fixes an issue in the 64-bit PHP 5.3 Encoder. The other Encoders for Mac OS X were
not affected by the issue.


13th Nov 2019 - Mac OS X 64-bit Encoders
64-bit Encoders and a 64-bit Encoder GUI are now available on Mac OS X as release 10.2.3.
That can be obtained by clicking on the "to revision 3" link beside the version 10.2 Mac OS X product in
the "Orders and Downloads" page in the ionCube member area.


11th Oct 2019 - Loader version 10.3.9
Fix for an issue in the PHP 7.3 Loader which could cause OPcache to be disabled on unencoded files.
Fix for an issue in the PHP 7.2 and 7.3 Loaders which could give a spurious warning message if a parameter of a method with a null value overrides a method with a nullable type.


23rd Aug 2019 - Loader version 10.3.8
Fix for a possible crash in the PHP 7.3 Loader when OPcache was also enabled.
Fix for PHP error exceptions not being caught in the PHP 7 Loaders.
Fixes for PHP issues 71980, 75396 and 75786.
Fix for an incorrect call order with certain combinations of foreach, finally and exception in the PHP 7.1 Loader.
Fix for incorrect line numbers being reported for undefined array index errors.
Fix for a potential memory leak with the encoded paths feature of the Loader.
IC24: Minor bug fixes, improvements and support for future features. Upgrading to the 10.3.8 Loader is particularly recommended for IC24 users.
New 5.4 and 7.2 Loaders custom built for IBM for ppc64le.


25th Jun 2019 - Loader version 10.3.7
Fix for a potential segmentation fault in the 10.3.5 and 10.3.6 Loaders when including a large file defining an array.
The Loader version now can be obtained using phpversion("ionCube Loader").


18th Jun 2019 - Loader version 10.3.6
Fix for an issue in the PHP 7.3 Loader where a case within a switch could be triggered even though the
variable in the switch was undefined.
Fix for filepaths shown in debug_backtrace and similar functions being incorrect in some cases in
the 10.3.5 Loaders.
Fix for possible segmentation faults in the 10.3.5 Loaders occurring with include file protection.


4th Jun 2019 - Loader version 10.3.5
The ionCube Loader now has its own section in the phpinfo() output. That will include IC24 settings
where relevant.
Fix for some memory leaks in PHP 5.6-7.3, particularly when including files in a loop.
For undefined variables in assignments, correction to ensure that the line numbers in error messages
are not mangled when line number obfuscation is not in place.
Fix to ensure that the loader will accept large property values that were accepted by the Encoder.
Fix to ensure that external encoding keys set at runtime using ini_set would be found.


8th Apr 2019 - Encoder 10.2.2 released
Encoder 10.2.2 released. This is a free update for version 10 Encoder users, and includes a bug fix
for using dynamic keys with the PHP 7.1 and 7.2 encoders.


7th Apr 2019 - Loader version 10.3.4
This release includes a change for Linux x86 32/64 bit only, and fixes corruption
of the HTTP_HOST server variable if it includes a non-standard port number,
e.g. somedomain.com:8080


5th Apr 2019 - Loader version 10.3.3
Fix for callback files not being called from bundled encoding files.
Added AArch64 (ARM64) as a new standard platform.


26th Feb 2019 - Encoder 10.2.1 released
Encoder 10.2.1 released. This is a free update for version 10 Encoder users, and includes a few bug fixes as well as
a new UI preference setting to better support HiDPI displays.


2nd Jan 2019 - Loader version 10.3.2
Fix for a potential issue with the corruption of included file paths, particularly on Windows.


28th Dec 2018 - Loader version 10.3.1
Fix for potential issue running code on PHP 7.1 and 7.2.
Enhancement to ionCube24 support.


21st Dec 2018 - Loader version 10.3.0
ionCube Loaders for PHP 7.3.
Fix for an issue with dynamic properties of classes in PHP 7.1 and 7.2 which are updated using an "op assign" such as "+=".
Improvements, enhancements and support for future ionCube 24 features. All ionCube 24 users are strongly encouraged to update to this version.


13th Nov 2018 - Beta Loaders for PHP 7.3 released
Beta ionCube Loaders for PHP 7.3 on Linux and FreeBSD 11. Those can be used with the release candidate (RC) versions of PHP 7.3.0 on Linux and FreeBSD 11.
They can run files encoded with the version 10 PHP 7.1 and 7.2 Encoders. As with PHP 7.3.0 RC versions themselves, these loaders should
not be used in a production environment.


7th Nov 2018 - Loader 10.2.7 released (includes changes for 10.2.6)
Loader 10.2.7 released.
Fix for potential fault with thread-safe PHP 7 on Windows.
Fixes for ionCube24 support if using thread safe PHP on Linux and with code calling move_uploaded_file() from PHP 7.


28th Sep 2018 - Loader 10.2.5 released
Loader 10.2.5 released.
Fix for an issue with PHP 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 encoding where a silence operator at the start of an assignment including
object instantiation may cause a segfault.
Fix for an issue in PHP 7.1 and 7.2 where the values of generator parameters may not be found if a generator is closed and then
later opened again.
Fix corresponding to that for PHP bug 76534 (https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76534).


27th Jul 2018 - Loader 10.2.4 released
Loader 10.2.4 released.
Added FreeBSD 11, both 32 and 64 bit, as new standard platforms.
IC24: Fix for a possible crash in PHP 7 when an attempt is made to open a file on a path in the
trusted include paths list and the file does not actually exist.


18th Jul 2018 - Loader 10.2.3 released
Loader 10.2.3 released.
Fix for possible memory leak with closures in the PHP 7.0-7.2 loaders.
Fix for obfuscated versions of built-in functions not being found in thread-safe PHP 7.0-7.2.
Fix for possible invalid memory access when a generator is unset or otherwise terminates prematurely in PHP 7.1 and 7.2.
Fix for possible segmentation fault when running PHP 5.0-encoded files on 5.4-5.6.


22nd Jun 2018 - Loader 10.2.2 released
Loader 10.2.2 released.
Fix for a crash that could occur when using cloned objects in PHP versions prior to 7.0.
Fix for a crash occurring when using dynamic key functions with arguments for PHP versions prior to 7.0.
Fix for a crash that could occur when using the allow-reflection options (not including the allow-reflection-all option).
Fix for a crash that could occur for dynamically defined functions (such as defined within if-statements) in PHP 7.0-7.2.
Correction for memory leaks occurring as a result of method calls in the PHP 7.0-7.2 Loaders.


3rd May 2018 - Loader 10.2.1 released
Loader 10.2.1 released.
Fix for a crash that could occur if there was a mismatch between a parent method signature and a child method signature.
Improvements to memory consumption.


7th Mar 2018 - Encoder 10.2.0 released
Encoder 10.2.0 released. This is a free update for 10.0 Encoder users.
Includes a new Encoder for PHP 7.2.
New bundled encoding options allow encodings from different encoders to be included in the same encoded file.
Fix for a crash that could occur when the Encoder was attempting to acquire a license for itself and
permissions on the licensing directory meant that files could not be created.
Fix for an issue in the 7.1 Encoder whereby private methods were not called if there was an
overriding method in a sub-class. Specifically, there was a call to the private method from a parent method
and that parent method had itself been called from the child class.
Fix for incorrect yield from parsing corresponding to PHP bug 74302 (https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=74302).


7th Mar 2018 - Loader 10.2.0 released
Loader 10.2.0 released.
Loaders for PHP 7.2 encoding produced by the new 10.2 Encoders.
Fix for an issue in the PHP 7.1 and 7.2 Loaders whereby a return type could cause referenced parameters to break.
Fix corresponding to the fix for PHP bug 69676 (https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=69676).


17th Jan 2018 - Loader 10.1.1 released
Loader 10.1.1 released.
Fix for a fault in the PHP 7.0 Loader that could occur where a function was called with more arguments than in its definition.
Changes made corresponding to the fix for PHP bug number 74862 for PHP versions 7.1.13 and PHP 7.2.1.
Improved error message when the user is attempting to run a 5.6 or earlier encoded script on PHP 7.1 or later.


14th Dec 2017 - Loader 10.1.0 released
Loader 10.1.0 released.
This includes ionCube Loaders for PHP 7.2.
Support also for bundled encodings, a feature that will be included in a minor update of the version 10 Encoder.
Improvements to error messages produced when a 7.1-encoded file is read by a Loader for an earlier version of PHP.
Fix for an issue whereby private methods could be wrongly overridden with inheritance and dynamic decoding.
IC24: Notices plus strict and deprecated warnings are no longer reported if they are masked by @ or the error
reporting level.


1st Nov 2017 - Loader 10.0.4 released
Loader 10.0.4 released.
Fix for issue in PHP 5.5 and 5.6 where a crash could occur under certain conditions.
IC24 improvements.


4th Oct 2017 - Beta Loaders for PHP 7.2.0 released
Beta Loaders that can be used with the release candidate (RC) versions of PHP 7.2.0 on Linux and FreeBSD 9 have been released.
They can run files encoded with the version 10 PHP 7.1 Encoder.
As with PHP 7.2.0 RC versions themselves, these loaders should not be used in a production environment.


26th Sep 2017 - Loader 10.0.3 released
Loader 10.0.3 released.
Fix for issue in PHP 7.1 where getting the default values of parameters can randomly fail.
Fix for issue in PHP 7.1 where an array value could be assigned to the next element where the array has
"holes" i.e. numeric indexes of the array that do not have values.
Fix for issue in PHP 7.1 where a call to a stored procedure can lead to an incorrect "unbuffered queries are active" error.
Improvement to the error message produced by the PHP 7.1 Loader when encountering a file not produced by the PHP 7.1 Encoder.
IC24: New ic24.sec.initial_state ini option to configure whether security is enabled or not upon cache creation.
IC24: New ic24.sec.initial_action ini option to determine how new and modified files should be treated when about to execute.
IC24: New ic24.sec.initial_notify ini option to flag whether a notification should be generated when execution is attempted
of a new or modified file.
Other IC24 improvements.


11th Sep 2017 - Loader 10.0.2 released
Loader 10.0.2 released.
Fix for issue where, with the PHP 7.0 and 7.1 Loaders, reading unencoded files on Windows could crash.
Fix for issue with the PHP 7.1 Loader where a crash may occur when running a function
to generate a dynamic key.


31st Aug 2017 - Encoder 10.0.1 released
Encoder version 10.0.1 released.
Fix for issue where class type hints on parameters could be mangled.


31st Aug 2017 - Loader 10.0.1 released
Loader 10.0.1 released.
Fix for issue where a primary script with an external key that is obtained via a
URL will fail.
Fix for issue where, if an external key is set in two separate
license files with the same property but different values, then decoding will fail.
Fix for issue where setting encoded paths could lead to segmentation faults in
some cases on PHP 7.0 and 7.1.


24th Aug 2017 - Encoder 10.0.0 released
Encoder version 10.0.0 released.
This includes an encoder for PHP 7.1 that will encode all language features in PHP 7.1.
There have in addition been some GUI and documentation improvements.


2nd Aug 2017 - Loader 10.0.0 released
Loader 10.0.0 released.
These are loaders to run files produced by the forthcoming version 10 ionCube PHP Encoder.
Included are loaders for PHP 7.1. Those will only run files produced by
the version 10 encoder for PHP 7.1.