What is the purpose of the stripslashes() function in PHP and what potential issues can arise from its usage?

The stripslashes() function in PHP is used to remove backslashes from a string. It is commonly used to clean up data that has been escaped with addslashes() or magic_quotes_gpc. However, using stripslashes() can potentially introduce security vulnerabilities, as it may not fully protect against SQL injection attacks or other forms of malicious input. It is recommended to use more secure methods, such as prepared statements or input validation, to sanitize user input.

// Example of using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $username);

$username = stripslashes($_POST['username']); // Avoid using stripslashes() here
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();