Are there potential security risks when accessing session variables on a local Apache server with PHP?

When accessing session variables on a local Apache server with PHP, there are potential security risks if the session data is not properly sanitized or validated. To mitigate these risks, it is crucial to validate and sanitize all session data before using it in your application. This can help prevent common security vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks or SQL injection.

// Validate and sanitize session data before use
if(isset($_SESSION['user_id'])){
    $user_id = filter_var($_SESSION['user_id'], FILTER_SANITIZE_NUMBER_INT);
    
    // Use the sanitized user_id in your application
    // For example, querying the database using the user_id
}