download files outside the document root using PHP - get

Question

I'm trying to download a file using readfile(); in PHP but I'm having trouble, here's my code:
<?php
$getdir = $_GET['dir'];
$getdoctype = $_GET['doctype'];
$getfile = $_GET['filename'];
$dir = "/var/www/uploads/$getdir/$getdoctype/";
$type = mime_content_type( $dir . '/' . $getfile );
$contents = file_get_contents($dir . '/' . $getfile);
if (file_exists($getfile)) {
header('Content-Type: ' . $type);
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=' . $getfile);
readfile($getfile);
}
else{
echo "File Not Found";
}
?>
What am I doing wrong? I want to download the file thats stored in $getfile variable. I want to use all filetypes and all filesizes so thats why I did it like this.
The error I keep getting when I click on the file is: "File Not Found" as per my code. But it does exist.
Please also keep in mind that the website that host these files is SSL enabled

Answer 1

You should try replace this code:
file_exists($getfile) => file_exists($dir . '/' . $getfile)
readfile($getfile); => readfile($dir . '/' . $getfile);
But it's very dangerous use $_GET parameters to load file from filesystem, don't use this code on public website.

Answer 2

Your not pointing to the file correctly.
<?php
$getdir = $_GET['dir'];
$getdoctype = $_GET['doctype'];
$getfile = $_GET['filename'];
$dir = "/var/www/uploads/$getdir/$getdoctype/";
if (file_exists($dir . $getfile)) {
$type = mime_content_type( $dir . $getfile );
header('Content-Type: ' . $type);
header('Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=' . $getfile);
readfile($dir . $getfile);
}
else{
echo "File Not Found";
}
?>