What are the potential security risks associated with using user input in SQL queries in PHP?

The potential security risks associated with using user input in SQL queries in PHP include SQL injection attacks, where malicious users can manipulate input to execute unauthorized SQL commands. To mitigate this risk, it is important to sanitize and validate user input before including it in SQL queries.

// Sanitize and validate user input before using it in SQL queries
$userInput = $_POST['user_input'];
$safeUserInput = mysqli_real_escape_string($connection, $userInput); // Sanitize input
$safeUserInput = filter_var($safeUserInput, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING); // Validate input

// Use the sanitized and validated input in the SQL query
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE column_name = '$safeUserInput'";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);