diff --git a/src/rights_filter/server/sqlite_store.py b/src/rights_filter/server/sqlite_store.py
index da33143..c18123b 100644
--- a/src/rights_filter/server/sqlite_store.py
+++ b/src/rights_filter/server/sqlite_store.py
@@ -3,11 +3,13 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 import base64
 import hashlib
 import html
+import ipaddress
 import json
 import mimetypes
 import os
 import re
 import shutil
+import socket
 import sqlite3
 from html.parser import HTMLParser
 from contextlib import contextmanager
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ from io import BytesIO
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Callable
 from urllib.parse import parse_qsl, unquote, urljoin, urlparse
-from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
+from urllib.request import HTTPRedirectHandler, Request, build_opener
 
 from rights_filter.analysis.face_person_detection import HeuristicFacePersonDetector
 from rights_filter.analysis.fingerprints import FingerprintService
@@ -3823,14 +3825,56 @@ def _fetch_stylesheet_url_bytes(url: str, timeout: int = 10, limit: int = CANDID
     return _fetch_url_bytes_with_headers(url, STYLESHEET_FETCH_HEADERS, timeout, limit)
 
 
+def _assert_public_http_url(url: str) -> None:
+    # SSRF guard: candidate image / page / stylesheet URLs come from external
+    # search-result content (attacker-influenceable), so refuse to fetch
+    # anything that resolves to a non-public address (loopback, RFC1918,
+    # link-local cloud-metadata 169.254.169.254, etc.).
+    parsed = urlparse(url)
+    if parsed.scheme not in {"http", "https"} or not parsed.hostname:
+        raise ValueError("only public http(s) URLs may be fetched")
+    port = parsed.port or (443 if parsed.scheme == "https" else 80)
+    try:
+        infos = socket.getaddrinfo(parsed.hostname, port, proto=socket.IPPROTO_TCP)
+    except OSError as exc:
+        raise ValueError("could not resolve fetch host") from exc
+    for *_, sockaddr in infos:
+        ip = ipaddress.ip_address(sockaddr[0])
+        if (
+            ip.is_private
+            or ip.is_loopback
+            or ip.is_link_local
+            or ip.is_reserved
+            or ip.is_multicast
+            or ip.is_unspecified
+        ):
+            raise ValueError("refusing to fetch internal address")
+
+
+class _ValidatingRedirectHandler(HTTPRedirectHandler):
+    # Re-run the SSRF guard on every redirect hop so a public URL cannot bounce
+    # to an internal address.
+    def redirect_request(self, req, fp, code, msg, headers, newurl):
+        _assert_public_http_url(newurl)
+        return super().redirect_request(req, fp, code, msg, headers, newurl)
+
+
+_SSRF_SAFE_OPENER = build_opener(_ValidatingRedirectHandler())
+
+
+def _open_url(request: Request, timeout: int):
+    return _SSRF_SAFE_OPENER.open(request, timeout=timeout)
+
+
 def _fetch_url_bytes_with_headers(
     url: str,
     headers: dict[str, str],
     timeout: int,
     limit: int,
 ) -> bytes:
+    _assert_public_http_url(url)
     request = Request(url, headers=headers)
-    with urlopen(request, timeout=timeout) as response:
+    with _open_url(request, timeout) as response:
         data = response.read(limit + 1)
     if len(data) > limit:
         raise ValueError("candidate image exceeds size limit")
diff --git a/tests/rights_filter/server/test_sqlite_store.py b/tests/rights_filter/server/test_sqlite_store.py
index f5e016c..a00f062 100644
--- a/tests/rights_filter/server/test_sqlite_store.py
+++ b/tests/rights_filter/server/test_sqlite_store.py
@@ -322,7 +322,8 @@ def test_fetch_url_bytes_uses_browser_image_headers_and_room_for_real_photos(mon
         captured["timeout"] = timeout
         return FakeResponse()
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "urlopen", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_open_url", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_assert_public_http_url", lambda url: None)
 
     content = sqlite_store_module._fetch_url_bytes("https://cdn.example.test/profile.webp")
 
@@ -3632,7 +3633,8 @@ def test_sqlite_store_uses_page_and_image_specific_headers_for_default_fetcher(
             return FakeResponse(submitted_image)
         raise AssertionError(f"unexpected URL fetched: {request.full_url}")
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "urlopen", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_open_url", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_assert_public_http_url", lambda url: None)
     store = CopyrighterStore(tmp_path / "copyrighter.sqlite3", provider_runtime=runtime)
     store.initialize()
 
@@ -3720,7 +3722,8 @@ def test_sqlite_store_uses_source_page_referer_for_default_page_image_fetch(
             return FakeResponse(submitted_image)
         raise AssertionError(f"unexpected URL fetched: {request.full_url}")
 
-    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "urlopen", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_open_url", fake_urlopen)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite_store_module, "_assert_public_http_url", lambda url: None)
     store = CopyrighterStore(tmp_path / "copyrighter.sqlite3", provider_runtime=runtime)
     store.initialize()
 
@@ -8029,3 +8032,21 @@ def test_record_decision_rolls_back_when_audit_fails(tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch
     assert store._get("submissions", "SUB-1")["decisionStatus"] == "unreviewed"
     with pytest.raises(KeyError):
         store._get("knowledge_entries", sqlite_store_module._stable_id("kb-watchlist", "SUB-1"))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "url",
+    [
+        "http://127.0.0.1/x",
+        "http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data",
+        "http://10.0.0.1/a",
+        "http://192.168.1.1/a",
+        "http://[::1]/a",
+        "http://localhost/a",
+        "ftp://example.test/a",
+    ],
+)
+def test_fetch_rejects_internal_or_non_http_hosts(url):
+    # SSRF guard runs before any network call, so these raise without a fetch.
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        sqlite_store_module._fetch_url_bytes(url)