What security considerations should be taken into account when dynamically generating PHP files based on external content like a .txt file?

When dynamically generating PHP files based on external content like a .txt file, it is important to sanitize and validate the input to prevent any malicious code injection. This can be achieved by using functions like htmlspecialchars() to escape special characters and prevent cross-site scripting attacks. Additionally, it is recommended to limit the permissions of the generated PHP files to prevent unauthorized access. 

// Read external content from a .txt file
$externalContent = file_get_contents('external_content.txt');

// Sanitize the input to prevent code injection
$externalContent = htmlspecialchars($externalContent);

// Generate the PHP file with the sanitized content
$phpFile = fopen('generated_file.php', 'w');
fwrite($phpFile, '<?php echo "' . $externalContent . '"; ?>');
fclose($phpFile);

// Set permissions for the generated PHP file
chmod('generated_file.php', 0644);

Keywords

file_get_contents eval security vulnerabilities input validation code injection

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