How to prevent SQL injection in PhalconPHP when using sql in model? - sql-injection

Question

Let's say I am building a search that finds all the teacher and got an input where the user can put in the search term. I tried reading the phalcon documentation but I only see things like binding parameters. I read the other thread about needing prepare statements do I need that in Phalcon as well?
And my function in the model would be something like this:
public function findTeachers($q, $userId, $isUser, $page, $limit, $sort)
{
$sql = 'SELECT id FROM tags WHERE name LIKE "%' . $q . '%"';
$result = new Resultset(null, $this,
$this->getReadConnection()->query($sql, array()));
$tagResult = $result->toArray();
$tagList = array();
foreach ($tagResult as $key => $value) {
$tagList[] = $value['id'];
....
}
}
My question is for the Phalcon framework is there any settings or formats I should code for this line $sql = 'SELECT id FROM tags WHERE name LIKE "%' . $q . '%"';
And also any general recommendation for preventing SQL Injection in PhalconPHP controllers and index would be appreciated.
For reference:
My controller:
public function searchAction()
{
$this->view->disable();
$q = $this->request->get("q");
$sort = $this->request->get("sort");
$searchUserModel = new SearchUsers();
$loginUser = $this->component->user->getSessionUser();
if (!$loginUser) {
$loginUser = new stdClass;
$loginUser->id = '';
}
$page = $this->request->get("page");
$limit = 2;
if (!$page){
$page = 1;
}
$list = $searchUserModel->findTeachers($q, $loginUser->id, ($loginUser->id)?true:false, $page, $limit, $sort);
if ($list){
$list['status'] = true;
}
echo json_encode($list);
}
My Ajax:
function(cb){
$.ajax({
url: '/search/search?q=' + mapObject.q + '&sort=<?php echo $sort;?>' + '&page=' + mapObject.page,
data:{},
success: function(res) {
//console.log(res);
var result = JSON.parse(res);
if (!result.status){
return cb(null, result.list);
}else{
return cb(null, []);
}
},
error: function(xhr, ajaxOptions, thrownError) {
cb(null, []);
}
});
with q being the user's search term.

Answer 1

You should bind the query parameter to avoid an SQL injection. From what I can remember Phalcon can be a bit funny with putting the '%' wildcard in the conditions value so I put them in the bind.
This would be better than just filtering the query.
$tags = Tags::find([
'conditions' => 'name LIKE :name:',
'bind' => [
'name' => "%" . $q . "%"
]
])

Answer 2

Phalcon\Filter is helpful when interacting with the database.
In your controller you can say, remove everything except letters and numbers from $q.
$q = $this->request->get("q");
$q = $this->filter->sanitize($q, 'alphanum');

Answer 3

The shortest way for requests:
$q = $this->request->get('q', 'alphanum');