What are the potential pitfalls of including remote files in PHP?

Including remote files in PHP can pose security risks such as remote code execution, exposing sensitive information, and potential server overload. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to avoid including remote files whenever possible. If remote file inclusion is necessary, ensure that the remote file is from a trusted source and validate the input to prevent malicious code execution. 

// Example of including a remote file securely
$remoteFile = 'https://www.example.com/remote_file.php';

if (filter_var($remoteFile, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {
    include_once $remoteFile;
} else {
    echo "Invalid remote file URL";
}

Keywords

remote files PHP include security risks code injection file inclusion vulnerability

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