Security In PHP

Insecure scripts written in PHP are popular targets of hackers who exploit poorly built applications written in PHP. Software vulnerabilities related to PHP are identified among the CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) records, available from the National Vulnerability Database. The proportion of vulnerabilities related to PHP, out of the total of all common vulnerabilities, amounted to: 12% in 2003, 20% in 2004, 28% in 2005, 43% in 2006, 36% in 2007, and 33.8% for the first quarter of 2008. More than a quarter of all software vulnerabilities listed in this database are related to scripts written in PHP, and more than a third of vulnerabilities listed recently. Most of these vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely, that is without being logged on the computer hosting the vulnerable applicationSuch exploitation is made possible due to poor programming habits, such as failing to check data before entering it into a database, and features of the language such as register_globals, which is now deprecatedThese result in code injection, cross-site scripting and other application security issues. Such attacks are not exclusive to PHP and most can be avoided simply by following proper coding techniques and principles.