What are the potential security risks associated with using serialize() in PHP cookies?

Using serialize() in PHP cookies can potentially lead to security risks such as data manipulation, injection attacks, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to use JSON encoding instead of serialize() when storing data in cookies. JSON encoding is a safer alternative as it is more secure and less prone to security vulnerabilities. 

// Encode data using JSON before storing it in a cookie
$data = ['username' => 'john_doe', 'email' => 'john.doe@example.com'];
$encoded_data = json_encode($data);
setcookie('user_data', $encoded_data, time() + 3600, '/');

Keywords

serialize PHP cookies security risks injection attacks data manipulation unserialize

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