Security: allow_url_fopen is enabled

I used PHPsecinfo to check my hosting security. http://phpsec.org/

It gives the following warning.

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Warning

allow_url_fopen is enabled. This could be a serious security risk. You should disable allow_url_fopen and consider using the PHP cURL functions instead.

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http://phpsec.org/projects/phpsecinfo/tests/allow_url_fopen.html

It recommends the followings.

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Recommendations

You should disable allow_url_fopen in the php.ini file:

; Disable allow_url_fopen for security reasons

allow_url_fopen = 'off'

The setting can also be disabled in apache's httpd.conf file:

# Disable allow_url_fopen for security reasons

php_flag  allow_url_fopen  off

For remote file access, consider using the cURL functions that PHP provides.

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But I don't have access to php.ini since it is hosted.

How can I do it?

Is it cretical to do it?

Thanks in advance.

You can change the setting by placing....

php_flag  allow_url_fopen off

within your .htaccess file.