Escapes special characters in a string for use in an SQL statement

# mysql_real_escape_string

(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5)

mysql_real_escape_string — Escapes special characters in a string for use in an SQL statement

Warning

This extension was deprecated in PHP 5.5.0, and it was removed in PHP 7.0.0. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide. Alternatives to this function include:

- mysqli_real_escape_string()
- PDO::quote()

### Description

mysql_real_escape_string(string `$unescaped_string`, resource `$link_identifier` = NULL): string

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.

Caution

# Security: the default character set

The character set must be set either at the server level, or with the API function mysql_set_charset() for it to affect mysql_real_escape_string(). See the concepts section on character sets for more information.

### 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() had been called with no arguments. If no connection is found or established, an `E_WARNING` level error is generated.

### Return Values

Returns the escaped string, or `false` on error.

### Errors/Exceptions

Executing this function without a MySQL connection present will also emit `E_WARNING` level PHP errors. Only execute this function with a valid MySQL connection present.

### 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 mysql_real_escape_string() requires a connection example

This example demonstrates what happens if a MySQL connection is not present when calling this function.

`<?php
// We have not connected to MySQL
$lastname = "O'Reilly";
$_lastname = mysql_real_escape_string($lastname);
$query = "SELECT * FROM actors WHERE last_name = '$_lastname'";
var_dump($_lastname);
var_dump($query);
?>`

The above example will output something similar to:

    Warning: mysql_real_escape_string(): No such file or directory in /this/test/script.php on line 5
    Warning: mysql_real_escape_string(): A link to the server could not be established in /this/test/script.php on line 5

    bool(false)
    string(41) "SELECT * FROM actors WHERE last_name = ''"

Example #3 An example SQL Injection Attack

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

### 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 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_set_charset() - Sets the client character set
- mysql_client_encoding() - Returns the name of the character set

`↑` and `↓` to navigate • `Enter` to select • `Esc` to close • `/` to open