What are the potential security risks of directly processing a file without storing it on the web space first in PHP?

Directly processing a file without storing it on the web space first in PHP can pose security risks such as allowing malicious files to be executed on the server, potential denial of service attacks, or exposing sensitive information. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to validate the file type, sanitize input data, and use secure file handling techniques.

// Example code snippet to validate file type before processing
$allowedFileTypes = ['jpg', 'png', 'pdf']; // Define allowed file types
$uploadedFile = $_FILES['file']; // Get uploaded file

// Check if file type is allowed
if (in_array(pathinfo($uploadedFile['name'], PATHINFO_EXTENSION), $allowedFileTypes)) {
    // Process the file
    // Your processing logic here
} else {
    echo "Invalid file type. Please upload a file of type jpg, png, or pdf.";
}