How can PHP developers ensure that sensitive file paths and URLs are not exposed to users in a web application?

Sensitive file paths and URLs should never be directly exposed to users in a web application for security reasons. To prevent this, PHP developers can use server-side logic to handle requests and serve files without revealing the actual file paths. This can be achieved by using PHP's built-in functions like `realpath()` to resolve file paths and `header()` to set appropriate content headers before serving files. 

<?php
// Define the path to the sensitive file
$sensitiveFilePath = '/path/to/sensitive/file.txt';

// Check if the user is authorized to access the file
if ($userIsAuthorized) {
    // Set appropriate content headers
    header('Content-Type: text/plain');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="file.txt"');

    // Serve the file without revealing the actual path
    readfile($sensitiveFilePath);
} else {
    // Handle unauthorized access
    echo 'You are not authorized to access this file.';
}
?>

Keywords

security file paths URLs sensitive information web application

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