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Engineer Robin 🎭
Engineer Robin 🎭

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How to Secure Laravel Applications from Common Attacks

#laravel #webdev #php #ai

Why Laravel Security Matters

Modern web applications handle:

  • User data
  • Payments
  • Authentication tokens
  • APIs & integrations

A small vulnerability can lead to:

  • Data breaches
  • Account takeovers
  • Financial loss
  • Reputation damage

Laravel gives you strong tools—but you must use them correctly.

1. SQL Injection Attacks

❌ The Problem

Hackers inject malicious SQL queries to read, modify, or delete database data.

Laravel Protection

Laravel uses PDO with prepared statements, which prevents SQL injection by default—if used properly.

Best Practices

✔ Always use Eloquent or Query Builder
✔ Never concatenate user input into raw SQL
✔ Avoid DB::raw() unless absolutely necessary

// Safe
User::where('email', $request->email)->first();
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Never do this

DB::select("SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '$email'");
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2. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)

❌ The Problem

An attacker tricks a logged-in user into submitting unwanted requests.

Laravel Protection

Laravel automatically protects against CSRF using tokens.

Best Practices

✔ Use @csrf in every form
✔ Never disable CSRF middleware globally
✔ Use CSRF protection for APIs when needed

<form method="POST">
    @csrf
</form>
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3. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

❌ The Problem

Malicious scripts are injected into web pages and executed in users’ browsers.

Laravel Protection

Laravel escapes output by default using Blade.

Best Practices

✔ Always use {{ }} instead of {!! !!}
✔ Sanitize user input
✔ Validate and limit HTML input

{{ $user->name }}  <!-- Safe -->
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🚫 Dangerous:

{!! $user->comment !!}
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4. Authentication & Password Attacks

❌ The Problem

Weak authentication leads to brute-force attacks and account takeovers.

Laravel Protection

Laravel uses bcrypt/argon2 hashing, rate limiting, and secure sessions.

Best Practices

✔ Always hash passwords
✔ Use Laravel authentication scaffolding
✔ Enable rate limiting on login routes
✔ Use strong password rules

Hash::make($request->password);
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RateLimiter::for('login', function () {
    return Limit::perMinute(5);
});
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5. Broken Access Control

❌ The Problem

Users access data or actions they shouldn’t.

Laravel Protection

Laravel provides Policies & Gates.

Best Practices

✔ Use policies for authorization
✔ Never trust frontend checks
✔ Protect routes with middleware

$this->authorize('update', $post);
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Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    // secured routes
});
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6. API Security Issues

❌ The Problem

Exposed APIs allow unauthorized access.

Laravel Protection

Laravel Sanctum & Passport help secure APIs.

Best Practices

✔ Use token-based authentication
✔ Apply rate limiting
✔ Validate every API request
✔ Hide sensitive fields

Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->get('/user', function () {
    return auth()->user();
});
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7. File Upload Vulnerabilities

❌ The Problem

Attackers upload malicious files or scripts.

Best Practices

✔ Validate file type and size
✔ Never trust file extensions
✔ Store files outside public directory
✔ Rename uploaded files

$request->validate([
    'image' => 'required|image|mimes:jpg,png|max:2048',
]);
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8. Environment & Configuration Leaks

❌ The Problem

Exposed .env file reveals database credentials & API keys.

Best Practices

✔ Never expose .env publicly
✔ Set APP_DEBUG=false in production
✔ Use proper server permissions

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false
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9. HTTPS & Session Security

❌ The Problem

Data intercepted over unsecured connections.

Best Practices

✔ Force HTTPS
✔ Use secure cookies
✔ Enable SameSite cookies

'secure' => true,
'same_site' => 'strict',
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10. Validation & Mass Assignment Attacks

❌ The Problem

Users modify sensitive fields (like is_admin).

✅ Best Practices

✔ Always validate input
✔ Use $fillable or $guarded

protected $fillable = ['name', 'email'];
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11. Keep Laravel Updated

Outdated versions = known vulnerabilities.

Best Practices

✔ Regularly update Laravel & packages
✔ Monitor security advisories
✔ Remove unused packages

Laravel Security Checklist

✅ Use Eloquent / Query Builder
✅ Enable CSRF protection
✅ Escape output (XSS protection)
✅ Secure authentication & passwords
✅ Use Policies & middleware
✅ Secure APIs
✅ Validate uploads
✅ Protect .env file
✅ Enforce HTTPS
✅ Keep Laravel updated

Top comments (1)

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peacebinflow profile image
PEACEBINFLOW •

Solid checklist — this is the kind of post that actually prevents incidents instead of just talking about them.

What I appreciate here is that you didn’t frame security as “add one magic package and relax.” You kept it grounded in discipline: using the framework the way it was designed, and not fighting it with shortcuts like raw SQL, disabled CSRF, or trusting frontend checks.

The point about mass assignment and access control is especially underrated. A lot of breaches don’t come from exotic attacks — they come from “oops, that field was writable” or “we assumed auth meant authorization.” Policies + middleware sound boring, but they save careers.

Also glad you called out environment leaks and APP_DEBUG in prod. That’s one of those things everyone knows but still somehow ends up happening under pressure.

This reads less like a security blog and more like a “things I’ve seen go wrong in real projects” guide — which is exactly what people building Laravel apps need. If someone followed just this list consistently, they’d already be ahead of most production apps out there.