What are the implications of the 'safe_mode' directive being deprecated in PHP 5.3 and greater?

The 'safe_mode' directive in PHP was deprecated in version 5.3 and removed in later versions due to security concerns and its ineffectiveness in providing a secure environment. To solve this issue, you should update your code to use more modern security practices such as using open_basedir restrictions, proper file permissions, and input validation.

// Set open_basedir restriction to limit the directories PHP can access
ini_set('open_basedir', '/path/to/allowed/directory');