Why You Should Never Concatenate SQL Strings in Laravel

You should never concatenate SQL strings in Laravel (or any application) because it opens your application to SQL Injection attacks — one of the most dangerous and common security vulnerabilities.

Here’s why string concatenation is dangerous, especially in SQL queries:

Why You Should Never Concatenate SQL Strings in Laravel

$email = $_GET['email'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '$email'";
$users = DB::select($sql);

This works fine if the email is normal, like john@example.com. But if a malicious user enters:

' OR 1=1 --

This query will return all users, bypassing authentication. This is a classic SQL injection attack.

Safe Way: Parameter Binding

Laravel provides a way to safely bind parameters using ? placeholders:

$email = $_GET['email'];
$users = DB::select('SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = ?', [$email]);

This safely escapes the input, treating it as a string, even if it contains special characters or malicious content.

Why Use Parameter Binding?

- Prevents SQL Injection — automatically escapes values.
- Keeps Queries Clean — separates logic and data.
- Improves Performance — databases can optimize prepared queries.

Bonus: Named Bindings

You can also use named bindings for better readability:

DB::select('SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = :email', ['email' => $email]);

Conclusion

Never trust user input in raw SQL queries. Always use Laravel’s built-in parameter binding to keep your application safe, clean, and optimized.

Happy coding! 🔐