MySQL Functions
PHP Manual

mysql_real_escape_string

(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PECL mysql:1.0)

mysql_real_escape_stringEscapes special characters in a string for use in a SQL statement

Description

string mysql_real_escape_string ( string $unescaped_string [, resource $link_identifier ] )

Escapes special characters in the unescaped_string , taking into account the current character set of the connection so that it is safe to place it in a mysql_query(). If binary data is to be inserted, this function must be used.

mysql_real_escape_string() calls MySQL's library function mysql_real_escape_string, which prepends backslashes to the following characters: \x00, \n, \r, \, ', " and \x1a.

This function must always (with few exceptions) be used to make data safe before sending a query to MySQL.

Parameters

unescaped_string

The string that is to be escaped.

link_identifier

The MySQL connection. If the link identifier is not specified, the last link opened by mysql_connect() is assumed. If no such link is found, it will try to create one as if mysql_connect() was called with no arguments. If by chance no connection is found or established, an E_WARNING level error is generated.

Return Values

Returns the escaped string, or FALSE on error.

Examples

Example #1 Simple mysql_real_escape_string() example

<?php
// Connect
$link mysql_connect('mysql_host''mysql_user''mysql_password')
    OR die(
mysql_error());

// Query
$query sprintf("SELECT * FROM users WHERE user='%s' AND password='%s'",
            
mysql_real_escape_string($user),
            
mysql_real_escape_string($password));
?>

Example #2 An example SQL Injection Attack

<?php
// Query database to check if there are any matching users
$query "SELECT * FROM users WHERE user='{$_POST['username']}' AND password='{$_POST['password']}'";
mysql_query($query);

// We didn't check $_POST['password'], it could be anything the user wanted! For example:
$_POST['username'] = 'aidan';
$_POST['password'] = "' OR ''='";

// This means the query sent to MySQL would be:
echo $query;
?>

The query sent to MySQL:

SELECT * FROM users WHERE user='aidan' AND password='' OR ''=''

This would allow anyone to log in without a valid password.

Example #3 A "Best Practice" query

Using mysql_real_escape_string() around each variable prevents SQL Injection. This example demonstrates the "best practice" method for querying a database, independent of the Magic Quotes setting.

<?php

if (isset($_POST['product_name']) && isset($_POST['product_description']) && isset($_POST['user_id'])) {
    
// Connect

    
$link mysql_connect('mysql_host''mysql_user''mysql_password');

    if(!
is_resource($link)) {

        echo 
"Failed to connect to the server\n";
        
// ... log the error properly

    
} else {
        
        
// Reverse magic_quotes_gpc/magic_quotes_sybase effects on those vars if ON.

        
if(get_magic_quotes_gpc()) {
            
$product_name        stripslashes($_POST['product_name']);
            
$product_description stripslashes($_POST['product_description']);
        } else {
            
$product_name        $_POST['product_name'];
            
$product_description $_POST['product_description'];
        }

        
// Make a safe query
        
$query sprintf("INSERT INTO products (`name`, `description`, `user_id`) VALUES ('%s', '%s', %d)",
                    
mysql_real_escape_string($product_name$link),
                    
mysql_real_escape_string($product_description$link),
                    
$_POST['user_id']);

        
mysql_query($query$link);

        if (
mysql_affected_rows($link) > 0) {
            echo 
"Product inserted\n";
        }
    }
} else {
    echo 
"Fill the form properly\n";
}
?>

The query will now execute correctly, and SQL Injection attacks will not work.

Notes

Note: A MySQL connection is required before using mysql_real_escape_string() otherwise an error of level E_WARNING is generated, and FALSE is returned. If link_identifier isn't defined, the last MySQL connection is used.

Note: If magic_quotes_gpc is enabled, first apply stripslashes() to the data. Using this function on data which has already been escaped will escape the data twice.

Note: If this function is not used to escape data, the query is vulnerable to SQL Injection Attacks.

Note: mysql_real_escape_string() does not escape % and _. These are wildcards in MySQL if combined with LIKE, GRANT, or REVOKE.

See Also


MySQL Functions
PHP Manual