Definition
Plain language
Neutering special characters in text so they're read as plain words, not as instructions.
As stated in the literature
Encoding structural characters in untrusted content before embedding it in a structured document or query, preventing content from being reinterpreted as delimiters or control syntax; the classic mitigation for injection classes.
Also called: escape, escaped, escapes
Why it matters: Escaping is the boring, reliable fix for a whole family of injection attacks, and skipping it is how untrusted text ends up being obeyed as instructions.
For example, if a user types a quotation mark into a search box, escaping rewrites it so the database reads it as part of the search words rather than as the end of the query.
Heard on the show
“Because before this paper, every demonstration of AI doing science had at least one of three escape hatches.”Episode 002 — An AI Ran a Real Optics Lab for 21 Hours and Found a Transformer-Shaped Pattern in Light