An attacker exploits a weakness in input validation on the target to force arbitrary code to be retrieved from a remote location and executed. This differs from script injection in that script injection involves the direct inclusion of scripting code while code inclusion involves the addition or replacement of a reference to a code file, which is subsequently loaded by the target and used as part of the code of some application. One example of this sort of attack is PHP file include attacks where the parameter of an include() function is set by a variable that an attacker is able to control. The result is that arbitrary code could be loaded into the PHP application and executed.