What are some potential pitfalls of using PHP to include files for menus and content on a website?

One potential pitfall of using PHP to include files for menus and content on a website is the risk of exposing sensitive information if the file paths are not properly secured. To mitigate this risk, it is important to use absolute file paths and restrict access to sensitive files using .htaccess or server configurations. 

// Example of including files with absolute paths and restricting access
<?php
include_once('/var/www/html/includes/menu.php');
include_once('/var/www/html/includes/content.php');
?>

Keywords

file inclusion security vulnerabilities remote code execution path traversal include_once

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