escapeshellarg()¶
escapeshellarg() is a PHP function that wraps a string in single quotes and escapes any existing single quotes within it, making the string safe to pass as a single argument to a shell command.
It is used together with exec(), system(), passthru(), or shell_exec() when the argument is derived from user input or any untrusted source.
On Windows, escapeshellarg() uses double quotes and escapes double quotes, percent signs, and exclamation marks instead.
Note that escapeshellarg() escapes a single argument only. When the full command string needs to be sanitised, escapeshellcmd() should be used, though combining both functions correctly is preferred.
<?php
$filename = $_GET['file'] ?? '';
$safe = escapeshellarg($filename);
// Safe: $safe is a quoted, escaped argument
exec('convert ' . $safe . ' output.png', $output, $exitCode);
?>
See also escapeshellarg() — PHP Manual and escapeshellcmd() — PHP Manual.
Related : Escape Data, Injection, , exec, System, Shell Exec, , Security
