The Dangers Of Allowing Public File Uploads To Your Web Site
A common question on Yahoo! Answers is how to allow users to upload files to a Web site. Unfortunately, allowing file uploads on a Web site is the single most dangerous thing you can do as a Webmaster.
In short, if you allow people to upload files to your site, you’re opening yourself up to a world of trouble, from having your site defaced to compromising the entire Web server you’re on, straight through to possibly trafficking in illegal materials. So if you’re new to Web programming, it’s wisest to not mess with file uploading at all, or at least use a canned solution that has taken some of the worry out of hosting illegal and dangerous files.
Let’s first talk about why public uploads to Web servers are dangerous, then get into how to mitigate those dangers.
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