What are the security considerations when using PHP to generate and offer DOCX files for download on a website?
When using PHP to generate and offer DOCX files for download on a website, security considerations include validating user input to prevent malicious code injection, sanitizing file names to prevent directory traversal attacks, and setting appropriate file permissions to restrict access to sensitive files.
// Example PHP code snippet to generate and offer DOCX files for download with security considerations
// Validate user input
$filename = filter_var($_GET['filename'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
// Sanitize file name to prevent directory traversal attacks
$filename = preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9\-\_\.]/', '', $filename);
// Set appropriate file permissions
$docx_file = 'path/to/generated_files/' . $filename . '.docx';
chmod($docx_file, 0644);
// Offer the DOCX file for download
header('Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' . $filename . '.docx"');
readfile($docx_file);