What are common pitfalls when using PHP to generate random pages based on file names?

Common pitfalls when using PHP to generate random pages based on file names include not properly sanitizing user input, leading to security vulnerabilities such as directory traversal attacks. To solve this issue, always validate and sanitize user input before using it to include files.

// Validate and sanitize user input before including files
$allowed_files = ['page1.php', 'page2.php', 'page3.php']; // Define an array of allowed file names

if (isset($_GET['page']) && in_array($_GET['page'], $allowed_files)) {
    include $_GET['page'];
} else {
    // Handle invalid or unauthorized requests
    echo 'Invalid page request';
}