> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://notes.nomanaziz.me/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://notes.nomanaziz.me/cybersecurity/penetration-testing/tryhackme/main-methodology/3.-gaining-access-exploitation/web-applications/file-inclusion-vulnerability.md). # File Inclusion Vulnerability ### **Introduction** Local File Inclusion (LFI) is the vulnerability that is mostly found in web servers. This vulnerability is exploited when a user input contains a certain path to the file which might be present on the server and will be included in the output. This kind of vulnerability can be used to read files containing sensitive and confidential data from the vulnerable system. #### Cause and Defense The main cause of this type of Vulnerability is improper sanitization of the user's input. Sanitization here means that whatever user input should be checked and it should be made sure that only the expected values are passed and nothing suspicious is given in input. It is a type of Vulnerability commonly found in PHP based websites but isn't restricted to them. *** ### **Importance of Arbitrary file reading** A lot of the time LFI can lead to accessing (without the proper permissions) important and classified data. An attacker can use LFI to read files from your system which can give away sensitive information such as passwords/SSH keys; enumerated data can be further used to compromise the system. *** ### **Remote File Inclusion (RFI)** RFI vulnerabilities are easier to exploit but less common. Instead of accessing a file on the local machine, the attacker is able to execute code hosted on their own machine. When web applications take user input (URL, parameter value, etc.) and pass them into file include commands, the web application might be tricked into including remote files with malicious code. *** ### Other Techniques [PayloadAllTheThings FI Techniques](https://github.com/cyberheartmi9/PayloadsAllTheThings/tree/master/File%20Inclusion%20-%20Path%20Traversal#basic-lfi-null-byte-double-encoding-and-other-tricks) *** --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://notes.nomanaziz.me/cybersecurity/penetration-testing/tryhackme/main-methodology/3.-gaining-access-exploitation/web-applications/file-inclusion-vulnerability.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.