Which practice can help prevent cross-site scripting vulnerabilities?

Implementing context-sensitive escaping is a critical measure in preventing cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. This practice involves ensuring that any data included in a page is properly escaped according to the specific context in which it is used. For example, data that is displayed in HTML must be escaped to prevent malicious scripts from being executed in the browser.

By employing context-sensitive escaping, developers can control how data is rendered in different contexts (like HTML body, attributes, JavaScript, etc.), effectively neutralizing potentially harmful user input. This means that even if an attacker manages to inject malicious scripts into the input data, they will not execute in a way that affects the broader application or compromises user security.

This method enhances security by validating that data is treated appropriately based on its intended use case, of which context matters significantly in web application security. Properly escaping user input ensures that it remains safe, thereby preventing XSS attacks that could compromise sensitive user data or lead to unauthorized actions.

The other options do not enhance security: using less secure languages, disabling input validation, and allowing unrestricted data submissions all create vulnerabilities rather than mitigate them. These practices could expose applications to multiple security risks, including XSS, thus underscoring the importance of implementing robust data handling techniques