What is the best practice for passing variables in hidden inputs in PHP forms?

When passing variables in hidden inputs in PHP forms, it is best practice to sanitize and validate the input data to prevent any security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting attacks. This can be done by using functions like htmlspecialchars() to escape special characters and filter_var() to validate input data. Additionally, it is important to avoid storing sensitive information in hidden inputs as they can be easily viewed and manipulated by users.

<form action="process_form.php" method="post">
    <input type="hidden" name="user_id" value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($user_id); ?>">
    <input type="hidden" name="token" value="<?php echo htmlspecialchars($token); ?>">
    <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>