Are there any best practices for handling image access and display in PHP to prevent unauthorized access?

To prevent unauthorized access to images in PHP, one common best practice is to store the images outside of the web root directory to prevent direct access. Instead, use PHP to handle image requests, authenticate users, and serve the images only to authorized users. 

<?php
// Check if user is authenticated before serving the image
if($user_authenticated) {
    $image_path = '/path/to/image.jpg';
    
    // Set appropriate headers
    header('Content-Type: image/jpeg');
    header('Content-Length: ' . filesize($image_path));
    
    // Output the image
    readfile($image_path);
} else {
    // Handle unauthorized access
    echo "Unauthorized access to image.";
}
?>

Keywords

image access display PHP unauthorized access security

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