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PHP

Colin van Wyk
Colin van Wyk
8,258 Points

Do you still have to escape output if nothing is posted back to the browser?

If all my variables (input by the user) are to be sent to me via email, and not redisplayed, then nothing has been output back to the browser, right? Therefore there is no $_POST and therefore no htmlspecialchars() to be used?

<?php

//Import the PHPMailer class into the global namespace
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php';
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/Exception.php';
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/SMTP.php';

  $name = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"name",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $email = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"email",FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL));
  $designOption = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"designOption",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $userPrep = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"userPrep",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $userSpecified = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"userSpecified",FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
  $error_message = header("location:error.php");

if ($name == "" || $email == "") {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

if ($_POST["address"] != "") {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

if (!PHPMailer::validateAddress($email)) {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

//echo "<pre>";
$email_body = "";
$email_body .= "Name: " . htmlspecialchars($name) . "\n";
$email_body .= "Email Address: " . $email . "\n";
$email_body .= "Design Option: " . $designOption . "\n";
$email_body .= "User Preparedness: " . $userPrep . "\n";
$email_body .= "User Comments: " . $userSpecified . "\n";
//echo $email_body;
//echo "</pre>";

        $mail = new PHPMailer;
//        $mail->isSMTP();
//        $mail->Host = 'localhost';
//        $mail->Port = 2500;
//        $mail->CharSet = 'utf-8';
        //It's important not to use the submitter's address as the from address as it's forgery,
        //which will cause your messages to fail SPF checks.
        //Use an address in your own domain as the from address, put the submitter's address in a reply-to
        $mail->setFrom('order@example.com', $name);
        $mail->addReplyTo($email, $name);
        $mail->addAddress('quote@example.com', 'Colin');
        $mail->Subject = 'Quote Request from ' . $name;
        $mail->Body = $email_body;
        if (!$mail->send()) {
            echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
        } 

header("location:thanks.php");
?>

Is my form secure as per the coding above?

Or is the htmlspecialchars() inserts as per the below required?

<?php

//Import the PHPMailer class into the global namespace
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php';
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/Exception.php';
require 'vendor/phpmailer/src/SMTP.php';

  $name = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"name",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $email = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"email",FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL));
  $designOption = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"designOption",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $userPrep = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"userPrep",FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING));
  $userSpecified = trim(filter_input(INPUT_POST,"userSpecified",FILTER_SANITIZE_SPECIAL_CHARS));
  $error_message = header("location:error.php");

if ($name == "" || $email == "") {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

if ($_POST["address"] != "") {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

if (!PHPMailer::validateAddress($email)) {
  $error_message;
  exit;
}

//echo "<pre>";
$email_body = "";
$email_body .= "Name: " . htmlspecialchars($name) . "\n";
$email_body .= "Email Address: " . htmlspecialchars($email) . "\n";
$email_body .= "Design Option: " . htmlspecialchars($designOption) . "\n";
$email_body .= "User Preparedness: " . htmlspecialchars($userPrep) . "\n";
$email_body .= "User Comments: " . htmlspecialchars($userSpecified) . "\n";
//echo $email_body;
//echo "</pre>";

        $mail = new PHPMailer;
//        $mail->isSMTP();
//        $mail->Host = 'localhost';
//        $mail->Port = 2500;
//        $mail->CharSet = 'utf-8';
        //It's important not to use the submitter's address as the from address as it's forgery,
        //which will cause your messages to fail SPF checks.
        //Use an address in your own domain as the from address, put the submitter's address in a reply-to
        $mail->setFrom('order@example.com', htmlspecialchars($name));
        $mail->addReplyTo(htmlspecialchars($email), htmlspecialchars($name));
        $mail->addAddress('quote@example.com', 'Colin');
        $mail->Subject = 'Quote Request from ' . htmlspecialchars($name);
        $mail->Body = htmlspecialchars($email_body);
        if (!$mail->send()) {
            echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
        } 

header("location:thanks.php");
?>