What are common pitfalls to avoid when using PHP sessions and headers for login functionality?

One common pitfall to avoid when using PHP sessions and headers for login functionality is not properly securing the session data. To prevent session hijacking or session fixation attacks, it is important to regenerate the session ID after a successful login and to use SSL to encrypt the session data. Additionally, always remember to start the session at the beginning of each PHP file that requires session variables.

// Start the session
session_start();

// Regenerate the session ID
session_regenerate_id(true);

// Use SSL to encrypt the session data
ini_set('session.cookie_secure', 1);
ini_set('session.cookie_httponly', 1);