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config/database.php

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You will hopefully find this site is well-secured and I'm not interested in being hacked. I'm interested in learning about how people try to hack me, though.

What is this endpoint?

config/database.php

PHP database-configuration file containing connection credentials

What an attacker could do

Exposes database hostname, username, and password in plaintext PHP, letting an attacker connect directly to the backend database to read, modify, or drop all application data, and potentially pivot to other services reusing those credentials.

How to defend it

Move credentials out of web-accessible directories into environment variables or a secrets manager, and configure the web server to deny direct requests for .php config files outside the front controller.

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Learn More

Want to dive deeper into this topic? Check out the official documentation.

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