What are the potential drawbacks of using the $_REQUEST variable in PHP form processing and how can it be improved?

Using the $_REQUEST variable in PHP form processing can pose security risks as it combines data from both GET and POST requests, making it vulnerable to injection attacks. To improve this, it's recommended to use either the $_GET or $_POST variable specifically based on the type of request being made. 

// Improved PHP form processing using either $_GET or $_POST
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    $username = $_POST["username"];
    $password = $_POST["password"];
    // Process form data securely
}

// OR

if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "GET") {
    $searchQuery = $_GET["search"];
    // Process search query securely
}

Keywords

$_REQUEST security vulnerabilities data validation $_GET $_POST

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