Not saying it was a coordinated attack (per your edit), but anything popular is a prime target for various types of attacks, especially easier stuff like DDoS. But with every attack, the developers and various admins/owners of instances learn something new and how to mitigate it. So while it’s annoying, it’s just as much a blessing as it is a curse - better to patch things quickly than leave an exploitable hole open for who knows how long with access to who knows what.