What potential pitfalls should be considered when allowing users to input data into a database via PHP?

One potential pitfall to consider when allowing users to input data into a database via PHP is the risk of SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, you should always sanitize and validate user input before executing any SQL queries. This can be done using prepared statements or parameterized queries to ensure that user input is treated as data rather than executable code. 

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');

// Sanitize and validate user input
$userInput = filter_var($_POST['input'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Prepare a SQL statement using a prepared statement
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO table_name (column_name) VALUES (:input)");

// Bind the sanitized user input to the prepared statement
$stmt->bindParam(':input', $userInput);

// Execute the prepared statement
$stmt->execute();

Keywords

SQL injection data validation prepared statements cross-site scripting input sanitization

Related Questions