What are some common pitfalls to avoid when using GET variables in PHP for database operations?

Common pitfalls to avoid when using GET variables in PHP for database operations include not sanitizing user input, not validating input data, and not using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. To solve these issues, always sanitize and validate user input before using it in database queries, and use prepared statements to securely interact with the database. 

// Example of using prepared statements to safely query a database with GET variables

// Sanitize and validate GET input
$user_id = filter_input(INPUT_GET, 'user_id', FILTER_VALIDATE_INT);

// Prepare a SQL statement with a placeholder for the user_id
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :user_id");

// Bind the sanitized user_id to the placeholder
$stmt->bindParam(':user_id', $user_id, PDO::PARAM_INT);

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

// Fetch the results
$user = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

Keywords

SQL injection data validation prepared statements XSS attacks input sanitization

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