How can using $_GET or $_POST variables directly in PHP code lead to security vulnerabilities?

Using $_GET or $_POST variables directly in PHP code can lead to security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting attacks. To prevent these vulnerabilities, it is important to sanitize and validate user input before using it in your code.

// Sanitize and validate user input before using it in your code
$input = isset($_POST['input']) ? $_POST['input'] : '';
$clean_input = filter_var($input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Use the sanitized input in your code
echo "User input: " . $clean_input;