How can SQL injection vulnerabilities be prevented when using PHP?

SQL injection vulnerabilities can be prevented in PHP by using prepared statements with parameterized queries instead of directly inserting user input into SQL queries. This helps to separate the SQL logic from the user input, making it harder for attackers to inject malicious SQL code.

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

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

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

// Execute the prepared statement
$stmt->execute();

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