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Sanitizing variables to avoid xss cross site scripting using php
Once of the biggest considerations when hosting a website is security, this applies to both hosting your own website and also hosting your web site with a hosting company.
One of the biggest headaches for companies is XSS (or Cross Site Scripting) which involves hackers injecting malicious code into form inputs and file uploads.
One of the ways of doing this is encode and escape all your variables before they are sent to your database layer.
Recently I have written a function that streamlines and handles all this processing for the developer.
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/** * ValidateVariable() * * method retrieve and sanatize variable requests * * @author Neil Young neil.young@neilyoungcv.com * * EXAMPLE USAGE: * * $customerId = ValidateVariable('my_variable', 'int', 'request'); * * @param string $index * @param int $type * @param string $gpcs */ function ValidateVariable($index, $type = 'int' , $gpcs = 'request') { //convert the type identifier to uppercase $type = strtoupper($type); //get the default value $value = ($type === 'INT' || $type === 'BOOLEAN') ? 0 : ''; // default if nothing set //GPCS - (Get, Post, Cookie, Server) //check if we are looking for a files object otherwise uppercase gpcs $gpcs = ($type == 'FILES') ? "FILES" : strtoupper($gpcs); //determine which gpcs we are running switch($gpcs) { //GET case 'GET': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_GET[$index])) { //determine the value type switch($type) { //integer case 'INT': //get the value of the integer, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (int) htmlentities($_GET[$index], ENT_QUOTES); break; case 'BOOLEAN': //get the value of the boolean, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (htmlentities($_GET[$index], ENT_QUOTES)) ? 1 : 0; break; case 'STRING': //get the value of the string, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (string) htmlentities($_GET[$index], ENT_QUOTES); //trim the string $value = trim($value); break; } } break; //POST case 'POST': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_POST[$index])) { //determine the value type switch($type) { //integer case 'INT': //get the value of the integer, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (int) htmlentities($_POST[$index], ENT_QUOTES); break; case 'BOOLEAN': //get the value of the boolean, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (htmlentities($_POST[$index], ENT_QUOTES)) ? 1 : 0; break; case 'STRING': //get the value of the string, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (string) htmlentities($_POST[$index], ENT_QUOTES); //trim the string $value = trim($value); break; } } break; //REQUEST case 'REQUEST': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_REQUEST[$index])) { //determine the value type switch($type) { //integer case 'INT': //get the value of the integer, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (int) htmlentities($_REQUEST[$index], ENT_QUOTES); break; case 'BOOLEAN': //get the value of the boolean, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (htmlentities($_REQUEST[$index], ENT_QUOTES)) ? 1 : 0; break; case 'STRING': //get the value of the string, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (string) htmlentities($_REQUEST[$index], ENT_QUOTES); //trim the string $value = trim($value); break; } } break; //COOKIE case 'COOKIE': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_COOKIE[$index])) { //determine the value type switch($type) { //integer case 'INT': //get the value of the integer, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (int) htmlentities($_COOKIE[$index], ENT_QUOTES); break; case 'BOOLEAN': //get the value of the boolean, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (htmlentities($_COOKIE[$index], ENT_QUOTES)) ? 1 : 0; break; case 'STRING': //get the value of the string, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (string) htmlentities($_COOKIE[$index], ENT_QUOTES); //trim the string $value = trim($value); break; } } break; //SERVER case 'SERVER': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_SERVER[$index])) { //get the value of the server index $value = $_SERVER[$index]; } break; //SESSION case 'SESSION': //determine if the GCPS is set with the appropriate index if(isset($_SESSION[$index])) { //determine the value type switch($type) { //integer case 'INT': //get the value of the integer, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (int) htmlentities($_SESSION[$index], ENT_QUOTES); break; case 'BOOLEAN': //get the value of the boolean, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (htmlentities($_SESSION[$index], ENT_QUOTES)) ? 1 : 0; break; case 'STRING': //get the value of the string, making sure we escape to avoid //any XSS (Cross Site Scripting) attacks $value = (string) htmlentities($_SESSION[$index], ENT_QUOTES); //trim the string $value = trim($value); break; } } break; //FILES case 'FILES': //check to see if the $_FILES array is set. if(isset($_FILES[$index])) { //check that the user has provided a maximum file size if (!isset($_REQUEST['MAX_FILE_SIZE'])) { //return false as we cannot check the size of the file throw new Exception("Please specify a MAX_FILE_SIZE for your upload form"); } //check that the user has provided a maximum file size if (!isset($_REQUEST['ALLOWED_FILE_TYPES'])) { //return false as we cannot check the size of the file throw new Exception("Please specify an ALLOWED_FILE_TYPES for your upload form"); } //get the maximum file size but sanitise the value $maxFileSize = htmlentities($_REQUEST['MAX_FILE_SIZE'], ENT_QUOTES); $allowedFileTypes = htmlentities($_REQUEST['ALLOWED_FILE_TYPES'], ENT_QUOTES); //get the allowed file types $validFileTypes = explode(',', $allowedFileTypes); //we count how many files have been uploaded $fileCount = count($_FILES[$index]['tmp_name']); //if we only have one file if ($fileCount == 1) { //first we determine if the file has been uploaded via http post if (!is_uploaded_file($_FILES[$index]['tmp_name'])) { //return false as file was not posted throw new Exception("A valid file upload was not found"); } //next we check that the size is what we are expecting else if ($_FILES[$index]['size'] >= $maxFileSize) { //return false as there is a file that is greater than the maximum size throw new Exception("The size of your file exceeds the maximum file size of " . round($_FILES[$index]['size'] / $maxFileSize, 2) . " MB"); } //file does not exist else if (!file_exists($_FILES[$index]['tmp_name'])) { //the file does not exist so cannot be referenced throw new Exception("A file was not found on upload"); } else if (!in_array($_FILES[$index]['type'], $validFileTypes)) { //the file does not exist so cannot be referenced throw new Exception("An invalid file type was found, valid file types are " . implode(", ", $validFileTypes)); } else if($_FILES[$index]['error'] != UPLOAD_ERR_OK) { //there was a problem uploading the image throw new Exception("There was an error whilst uploading your file"); } } else { //initialise counter //loop through each file for($i = 0; $i <= ($fileCount-1); $i++) { //first we determine if the file has been uploaded via http post if (!is_uploaded_file($_FILES[$index]['tmp_name'][$i])) { //return false as file was not posted throw new Exception("A valid file upload was not found"); } //next we check that the size is what we are expecting if ((int)$_FILES[$index]['size'][$i] > (int)$maxFileSize) { //return false as there is a file that is greater than the maximum size throw new Exception("The size of your file exceeds the maximum file size of " . round($_FILES[$index]['size'] / $maxFileSize, 2) . " MB"); } else if (!file_exists($_FILES[$index]['tmp_name'][$i])) { //the file does not exist so cannot be referenced throw new Exception("A file was not found on upload"); } else if (!in_array($_FILES[$index]['type'][$i], $validFileTypes)) { //the file does not exist so cannot be referenced throw new Exception("An invalid file type was found, valid file types are " . implode(", ", $validFileTypes)); } else if($_FILES[$index]['error'][$i] != UPLOAD_ERR_OK) { //there was a problem uploading the image throw new Exception("There was an error whilst uploading your file"); } } } //files have been posted and are not larger than the maximum file size return $_FILES; } break; } //return the sanitized value return $value; }
