PHP: how to (correctly) remove escaped quotes in arrays when Magic Quotes are ON

Question

As you know when Magic Quotes are ON, single quotes are escaped in values and also in keys. Most solutions to remove Magic Quotes at runtime only unescape values, not keys. I'm seeking a solution that will unescape keys and values...

I found out on PHP.net this piece of code:

$process = array(&$_GET, &$_POST, &$_COOKIE, &$_REQUEST);
while (list($key, $val) = each($process))
{
    foreach ($val as $k => $v)
    {
        unset($process[$key][$k]);
        if (is_array($v))
        {
            $process[$key][stripslashes($k)] = $v;
            $process[] = &$process[$key][stripslashes($k)];
        }
        else
        {
            $process[$key][stripslashes($k)] = stripslashes($v);
        }
    }
}
unset($process);

But I don't like "&" references and arrays as I got bugs like this one in the past...

Is there a "better" way to unescape Magic Quotes (keys and values) at runtime than the one above?

Bullnecked

Take a look at the related question on the right side. – Lorrainelorrayne

Yeah I did (and even did a Web + SO search before asking question) but I haven't found any solution that work 100% and that don't use "&" references. – Bullnecked

Answer 1

I think this is a little cleaner and avoids reference bugs:

function unMagicQuotify($ar) {
  $fixed = array();
  foreach ($ar as $key=>$val) {
    if (is_array($val)) {
      $fixed[stripslashes($key)] = unMagicQuotify($val);
    } else {
      $fixed[stripslashes($key)] = stripslashes($val);
    }
  }
  return $fixed;
}

$process = array($_GET,$_POST,$_COOKIE,$_REQUEST);
$fixed = array();
foreach ($process as $index=>$glob) {
  $fixed[$index] = unMagicQuotify($glob);
}
list($_GET,$_POST,$_COOKIE,$_REQUEST) = $fixed;

Enmity

Answer 2

array_walk_recursive($_POST, 'stripslashes');

Do the same for GET and COOKIE.

Pirtle

Given that the provided function does strip slashes on the keys as well, might this not completely remove the slashes? – Southwester

This won't strip slashes from the keys. – Enmity