What is Remote File Inclusion (RFI)?

Remote File Inclusion (RFI) is an attack used to target vulnerabilities in web applications that make use of malicious reference scripts or external files. In an RFI attack, the attacker's goal is to take advantage of the referencing function in an application to upload malware from a remote location using a different domain instead of accessing a file on a local web server. The end goal is often to steal information, compromise servers, and take over an application to modify its content.