PHP Risk Assessment & Management 5

Question 1

Which PHP function should replace file_get_contents() when fetching user-supplied URLs to prevent SSRF (Server-Side Request Forgery)?

Accepted Answer

There is no drop-in replacement; input must be validated against an allowlist of permitted hosts

Answer

SSRF prevention requires validating and allowlisting target URLs before any HTTP client is used, not just switching the HTTP function.

Question 2

A risk register entry notes that a PHP application writes user-supplied data directly to a log file. What attack does this enable?

Accepted Answer

Log injection, potentially forging log entries or enabling log poisoning for LFI exploitation

Answer

Unescaped newlines in user input can forge log entries, and if logs are later included as PHP files, this escalates to remote code execution.

Question 3

What is the risk when a PHP application compares user passwords with the == operator instead of password_verify()?

Accepted Answer

Type juggling may cause '0e...' hash strings to compare as equal due to PHP's loose comparison

Answer

PHP's == operator treats strings beginning with '0e' as scientific notation floats; two different hashes can evaluate as equal, bypassing authentication.

Question 4

During a PHP application risk assessment, you find that error_log points to a file inside the web root. What is the risk?

Accepted Answer

An attacker can request the log file and read error details including file paths and SQL queries

Answer

A log file in the web root is publicly accessible via HTTP, leaking sensitive internal details that aid further attacks.

Question 5

What residual risk remains after patching a known SQL injection vulnerability in PHP code if the database backup strategy is not addressed?

Accepted Answer

Data loss risk persists because historic exploits may have exfiltrated or corrupted data before the patch

Answer

Fixing the injection vector does not undo any data theft or corruption that occurred prior to patching, so data integrity and backup recovery must also be assessed.

PHP - PHP Programming Language Practice Test

PHP - PHP Programming Language Practice Test

PHP Risk Assessment & Management 5