What are the potential risks of not using mysqli_real_escape_string() to sanitize user input in PHP scripts?

Not using mysqli_real_escape_string() to sanitize user input in PHP scripts can leave your application vulnerable to SQL injection attacks, where malicious users can manipulate your database queries. To prevent this, always sanitize user input before using it in database queries by using functions like mysqli_real_escape_string(). 

// Connect to the database
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Sanitize user input using mysqli_real_escape_string()
$user_input = mysqli_real_escape_string($mysqli, $_POST['user_input']);

// Use the sanitized input in a database query
$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$user_input'";
$result = $mysqli->query($query);

// Handle the query result
if ($result) {
    // Process the result
} else {
    // Handle errors
}

Keywords

mysqli_real_escape_string user input sanitize risks PHP scripts

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