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PHP and security (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by witten@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world

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The recent post about what people are using for webmail got me thinking about a perhaps irrational policy I have with my own self-hosted software: I don't install anything written in PHP, because I have this vague notion that PHP software is often insecure. I think I probably got this idea because years ago I saw all the vulnerabilities in PHP webmail clients and PHP software like Wordpress and decided that it was the language's fault—or at least a contributing factor.

Maybe this isn't fair. Maybe PHP is just more accessible to new devs and so they're more likely to gravitate to it and make security mistakes. Maybe my perception isn't even accurate, and webmail / blog software written in other languages is just as bad—but PHP gets all the the negative attention because it's so prevalent for web apps. Maybe my policy was a good idea, years ago, but now it's just out of date.

To be clear, I'm not trying to stoke the flames of a language holy war here or anything. I'm honestly asking: Is it maybe time to revisit my anti-PHP policy? I'm looking longingly at some federated software like Pixelfed and wondering if maybe I'm just being a little too close-minded.

So I'm interested in your own experiences and polices here. Where do you draw the security line for what you will or won't host, and what made you make that choice?

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[–] chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Language itself is not the problem. The old notion of “PHP is insecure” stemmed from languages elitists trying to fan the language war by pointing at CVE repositories and claiming the large number of issues stemming from 3rd party WordPress plug-ins and alike, ignoring the fact that there were way more projects than other languages because it is the most commonly used language on the web, as well as having way longer lineage therefor more time to accumulate security issues; whereas their new and shiney with lesser projects are allegedly more secure because there’s lesser projects, lesser eyeballs, lesser histories, etc.

The core language itself is fine; and just as with any other language out there, it is prudent to keep up with updates. The big named projects are fine; and just with any other projects out there, it is prudent to keep up with updates. The extensions/3rd party modules are … well you get the idea.

Just thought of this comparison:

How would you think if someone tells you “Microsoft (PHP) is insecure because there’s all these 3rd apps (plugins) for Windows (WordPress) that has security issues. Don’t believe me? Just look at all those problems from Windows ME (PHP4/5) days!”