Yeah it does. Part of it is being a popular starter language before people know what they’re doing, but a lot of it is legitimately terrible language[1] and API design, especially in older versions. It also has CVE-2026-109618, a type of vulnerability many languages aren’t even capable of having (since it wouldn’t be part of the language, and the library that implemented the equivalent would only be present when necessary and usually not written in C - with some exceptions).
[1] People have already covered this in depth, but here’s a lesser-mentioned taste: https://web.archive.org/web/20261017012819/https://www.php.n... (one section, btw)