What potential security risks or vulnerabilities could arise from using the "file_get_contents" function to retrieve data from external sources in PHP scripts, especially when dealing with SSL encrypted pages?

Using the "file_get_contents" function to retrieve data from external sources in PHP scripts can pose security risks, especially when dealing with SSL encrypted pages. This is because the function may not verify the SSL certificate of the remote server, making it vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to use the "stream_context_create" function to set up a context with SSL options, including verifying the peer's SSL certificate. 

$context = stream_context_create([
    'ssl' => [
        'verify_peer' => true,
        'verify_peer_name' => true
    ]
]);

$data = file_get_contents('https://example.com/data', false, $context);

Keywords

file_get_contents security risks vulnerabilities external sources SSL encryption

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