*
     * <p>This method escapes the following characters as per RFC 4515:
     * <ul>
     * <li>\ (backslash) → \5c</li>
     * <li>* (asterisk) → \2a</li>
     * <li>( (left parenthesis) → \28</li>
     * <li>) (right parenthesis) → \29</li>
     * <li>\0 (null character) → \00</li>
     * </ul>
     *
     * <p><strong>Security Note:</strong> This method MUST be called on all user-supplied