How can SQL injection vulnerabilities be prevented when executing SQL queries in PHP, especially in scenarios like form submissions?

SQL injection vulnerabilities can be prevented in PHP by using prepared statements with parameterized queries. This approach separates the SQL query logic from the user input, making it impossible for malicious SQL code to be injected into the query.

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=my_database', 'username', 'password');

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');

// Bind the user input to the placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);

// Execute the query
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();