Are there any best practices for handling user authentication and session management in PHP?

User authentication and session management are crucial aspects of web application security in PHP. Best practices include using secure password hashing algorithms like bcrypt, storing session data securely, and implementing measures like CSRF tokens to prevent attacks. 

// Example of secure password hashing using bcrypt
$password = 'user_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Example of storing session data securely
session_start();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = $user_id;

// Example of generating and validating CSRF tokens
$token = bin2hex(random_bytes(32));
$_SESSION['csrf_token'] = $token;

// Validate CSRF token
if ($_POST['csrf_token'] !== $_SESSION['csrf_token']) {
    // Handle invalid CSRF token
}

Keywords

authentication session management PHP security cookies

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