diff --git a/server/routes/transcribe-url.js b/server/routes/transcribe-url.js
index e35db54..a7839e7 100644
--- a/server/routes/transcribe-url.js
+++ b/server/routes/transcribe-url.js
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import { calcGeminiCost } from "../pricing.js";
 import { getAudioDurationSeconds } from "../audio-meta.js";
 import { resolveHardwareConfig } from "../hardware-config.js";
 import { reportHealthEvent } from "../spark-control-events.js";
+import { safeFetch } from "../safe-url.js";
 import {
   createJob,
   markRunning,
@@ -97,8 +98,12 @@ function guessMimeFromExt(filePath) {
 // would exceed MAX_DOWNLOAD_BYTES. Returns { filePath, bytes,
 // mimeType }.
 export async function downloadDirect(url, tmpDir) {
-  const res = await fetch(url, {
-    redirect: "follow",
+  // safeFetch is the SSRF choke point: it rejects non-http(s) schemes
+  // and hosts resolving to private/reserved ranges, and re-validates
+  // every redirect hop. downloadDirect is the single download path for
+  // transcribe-url / summarize-url / admin-test-run, so guarding it
+  // here covers all three.
+  const res = await safeFetch(url, {
     signal: AbortSignal.timeout(DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS),
   });
   if (!res.ok) {
diff --git a/server/safe-url.js b/server/safe-url.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e11ffe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/safe-url.js
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+// SSRF guard for user-supplied media URLs.
+//
+// /relay/transcribe-url and /relay/summarize-url download whatever
+// `media_url` the caller passes, and the route is reachable by anyone
+// presenting a self-chosen X-Recap-Install-Id, so an unguarded fetch
+// lets a caller probe the operator's LAN (Spark Control, BTCPay, other
+// StartOS services) or cloud metadata at 169.254.169.254. This module
+// rejects non-http(s) schemes and any hostname that resolves to a
+// private / loopback / link-local / reserved address, and follows
+// redirects MANUALLY so every hop is re-validated — a public URL can
+// 302 to an internal one after the first check passes.
+//
+// LAN calls to the operator's OWN hardware go through lan-fetch.js
+// instead: those URLs are config-set, not caller-set, and intentionally
+// reach private hosts.
+
+import dns from "node:dns/promises";
+import net from "node:net";
+
+export class BlockedUrlError extends Error {
+  constructor(message) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = "BlockedUrlError";
+    this.code = "BLOCKED_URL";
+  }
+}
+
+// Parse an IPv4 dotted-quad into its 32-bit integer, or null if it
+// isn't a well-formed IPv4 literal.
+function ipv4ToInt(ip) {
+  const parts = ip.split(".");
+  if (parts.length !== 4) return null;
+  let n = 0;
+  for (const p of parts) {
+    if (!/^\d{1,3}$/.test(p)) return null;
+    const v = Number(p);
+    if (v > 255) return null;
+    n = n * 256 + v;
+  }
+  return n >>> 0;
+}
+
+function inV4Range(n, base, bits) {
+  const mask = bits === 0 ? 0 : (~((1 << (32 - bits)) - 1)) >>> 0;
+  return (n & mask) === (base & mask);
+}
+
+// IPv4 ranges that must never be fetched from a user-supplied URL.
+const BLOCKED_V4 = [
+  ["0.0.0.0", 8], // "this host"
+  ["10.0.0.0", 8], // private
+  ["100.64.0.0", 10], // CGNAT
+  ["127.0.0.0", 8], // loopback
+  ["169.254.0.0", 16], // link-local (incl. 169.254.169.254 cloud metadata)
+  ["172.16.0.0", 12], // private
+  ["192.0.0.0", 24], // IETF protocol assignments
+  ["192.0.2.0", 24], // TEST-NET-1
+  ["192.168.0.0", 16], // private
+  ["198.18.0.0", 15], // benchmarking
+  ["198.51.100.0", 24], // TEST-NET-2
+  ["203.0.113.0", 24], // TEST-NET-3
+  ["224.0.0.0", 4], // multicast
+  ["240.0.0.0", 4], // reserved (incl. 255.255.255.255 broadcast)
+];
+
+function isBlockedV4(ip) {
+  const n = ipv4ToInt(ip);
+  if (n === null) return false;
+  for (const [base, bits] of BLOCKED_V4) {
+    if (inV4Range(n, ipv4ToInt(base), bits)) return true;
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+// Classify the reserved/private IPv6 ranges we block. Handles
+// IPv4-mapped (::ffff:a.b.c.d) by delegating to the v4 check.
+function isBlockedV6(ip) {
+  let addr = ip.toLowerCase();
+  const pct = addr.indexOf("%"); // strip zone id (fe80::1%eth0)
+  if (pct !== -1) addr = addr.slice(0, pct);
+  // IPv4-mapped / -embedded (::ffff:192.168.0.1, ::192.168.0.1).
+  const tail = addr.slice(addr.lastIndexOf(":") + 1);
+  if (tail.includes(".") && isBlockedV4(tail)) return true;
+  if (addr === "::1") return true; // loopback
+  if (addr === "::") return true; // unspecified
+  // fe80::/10 link-local spans fe80–febf.
+  if (/^fe[89ab]/.test(addr)) return true;
+  if (/^f[cd]/.test(addr)) return true; // fc00::/7 unique-local
+  if (addr.startsWith("ff")) return true; // multicast
+  return false;
+}
+
+// True if `ip` (an IP literal) is in a range we refuse to fetch from.
+// Returns false for non-IP strings — the caller resolves DNS first.
+export function isBlockedAddress(ip) {
+  const kind = net.isIP(ip);
+  if (kind === 4) return isBlockedV4(ip);
+  if (kind === 6) return isBlockedV6(ip);
+  return false;
+}
+
+// Validate that `urlStr` is an http(s) URL whose host does NOT resolve
+// to a private/reserved address. Throws BlockedUrlError otherwise;
+// returns the parsed URL on success.
+export async function assertPublicHttpUrl(urlStr) {
+  let u;
+  try {
+    u = new URL(urlStr);
+  } catch {
+    throw new BlockedUrlError("media_url is not a valid URL");
+  }
+  if (u.protocol !== "http:" && u.protocol !== "https:") {
+    throw new BlockedUrlError(`media_url scheme "${u.protocol}" is not allowed`);
+  }
+  const host = u.hostname.replace(/^\[|\]$/g, ""); // strip IPv6 brackets
+  let addresses;
+  if (net.isIP(host)) {
+    addresses = [host];
+  } else {
+    let looked;
+    try {
+      looked = await dns.lookup(host, { all: true });
+    } catch {
+      throw new BlockedUrlError(`media_url host "${host}" did not resolve`);
+    }
+    addresses = looked.map((a) => a.address);
+  }
+  if (!addresses.length) {
+    throw new BlockedUrlError(`media_url host "${host}" did not resolve`);
+  }
+  for (const addr of addresses) {
+    if (isBlockedAddress(addr)) {
+      throw new BlockedUrlError(
+        `media_url host "${host}" resolves to a blocked address`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+  return u;
+}
+
+// fetch() wrapper that re-validates the URL on every redirect hop. Node
+// fetch's redirect:"follow" would jump to an internal host AFTER the
+// initial check passed, so we follow manually with redirect:"manual"
+// and re-run assertPublicHttpUrl on each Location.
+export async function safeFetch(urlStr, { signal, headers, maxRedirects = 5 } = {}) {
+  let current = urlStr;
+  for (let hop = 0; hop <= maxRedirects; hop++) {
+    await assertPublicHttpUrl(current);
+    const res = await fetch(current, { redirect: "manual", signal, headers });
+    const location = res.headers.get("location");
+    if (res.status >= 300 && res.status < 400 && location) {
+      current = new URL(location, current).toString(); // resolve relative redirects
+      continue;
+    }
+    return res;
+  }
+  throw new BlockedUrlError("media_url exceeded the redirect limit");
+}
diff --git a/server/test/safe-url.test.js b/server/test/safe-url.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b28aab9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/test/safe-url.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+// SSRF guard for user-supplied media URLs (safe-url.js). Uses literal
+// IPs so the address checks need no DNS / network.
+
+import { test, describe } from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import {
+  isBlockedAddress,
+  assertPublicHttpUrl,
+  BlockedUrlError,
+} from "../safe-url.js";
+
+describe("isBlockedAddress", () => {
+  test("blocks private / loopback / link-local / reserved IPv4", () => {
+    for (const ip of [
+      "127.0.0.1",
+      "10.0.0.5",
+      "172.16.0.1",
+      "172.31.255.255",
+      "192.168.1.1",
+      "169.254.169.254", // cloud metadata
+      "100.64.0.1",
+      "0.0.0.0",
+      "198.18.0.1",
+      "224.0.0.1",
+      "255.255.255.255",
+    ]) {
+      assert.equal(isBlockedAddress(ip), true, `${ip} should be blocked`);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("allows public IPv4 (incl. the /12 boundaries around 172.16/12)", () => {
+    for (const ip of ["8.8.8.8", "1.1.1.1", "172.15.0.1", "172.32.0.1", "93.184.216.34"]) {
+      assert.equal(isBlockedAddress(ip), false, `${ip} should be allowed`);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("blocks loopback / ULA / link-local / IPv4-mapped IPv6", () => {
+    for (const ip of [
+      "::1",
+      "::",
+      "fe80::1",
+      "febf::1",
+      "fc00::1",
+      "fd12:3456::1",
+      "ff02::1",
+      "::ffff:127.0.0.1",
+      "::ffff:192.168.0.1",
+    ]) {
+      assert.equal(isBlockedAddress(ip), true, `${ip} should be blocked`);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("allows public IPv6", () => {
+    assert.equal(isBlockedAddress("2606:4700:4700::1111"), false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("assertPublicHttpUrl", () => {
+  test("rejects non-http(s) schemes", async () => {
+    for (const u of [
+      "file:///etc/passwd",
+      "gopher://x/_",
+      "ftp://h/f",
+      "data:text/plain,hi",
+    ]) {
+      await assert.rejects(() => assertPublicHttpUrl(u), BlockedUrlError);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("rejects literal private / metadata IP hosts (no DNS needed)", async () => {
+    for (const u of [
+      "http://127.0.0.1/x",
+      "http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/",
+      "http://[::1]/x",
+      "http://192.168.0.10:9000/a",
+      "https://10.1.2.3/audio.mp3",
+    ]) {
+      await assert.rejects(() => assertPublicHttpUrl(u), BlockedUrlError);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test("rejects malformed URLs", async () => {
+    await assert.rejects(() => assertPublicHttpUrl("not a url"), BlockedUrlError);
+  });
+
+  test("allows a public literal IP host", async () => {
+    const u = await assertPublicHttpUrl("https://8.8.8.8/audio.mp3");
+    assert.equal(u.hostname, "8.8.8.8");
+  });
+});