Outbound URL Filtering

Gotenberg makes outbound HTTP calls in four places:

• Chromium navigations and sub-resources.
• Webhook callbacks.
• downloadFrom fetches.
• LibreOffice fetches for document references (OOXML external images, RTF INCLUDEPICTURE, ODT linked images). Since 8.34.0, content linked from uploaded documents is dropped at the source; the filters below cover any fetch LibreOffice still performs.

Each surface routes through the same pipeline: allow/deny regex, IP-class checks, and a DNS-rebind pinning proxy.

Default Posture

Defaults are permissive. Gotenberg runs inside a trusted network behind your own API gateway.

Out of the box:

• Webhook callbacks reach http://hooks.compose.internal.
• Chromium loads http://my-cdn.svc/banner.jpeg.
• downloadFrom fetches http://shared-storage.internal/document.docx.

Operators exposing Gotenberg to untrusted callers opt into stricter checks via the variables below.

Always-On Protections

Hardening for specific primitives. No setting turns them off.

DNS-rebind pinning proxy. Chromium and LibreOffice route every outbound HTTP/HTTPS request through an in-process proxy. The proxy resolves DNS once and pins the dial to the validated IP. Setting CHROMIUM_PROXY_SERVER or CHROMIUM_HOST_RESOLVER_RULES skips it, as does a hop carried by the environment proxy, which owns DNS for the hops it carries.

file:// rejected on URL routes. /forms/chromium/convert/url and /forms/chromium/screenshot/url return 400 Bad Request for any file:// URL. Use the html or markdown variants to render local HTML.

file:// sub-resources scoped per request. Routes that render local HTML load assets relative to the request's own working directory. Sibling requests' files are unreachable.

Linked content dropped in LibreOffice documents. Since 8.34.0, LibreOffice refuses to load content linked from an untrusted location. Uploaded documents always load from a per-request temporary directory, which is never trusted, so linked file:// paths and external URLs are dropped before any fetch happens. An allow-list match cannot re-enable them. Embedded content stored inside the document is unaffected.

Per-Module Variables

Each module exposes the same two boolean variables. All default to false. Each variable also exists as a CLI flag; see the Chromium, Webhook, API, and LibreOffice configuration tables.

Environment variable	Effect
CHROMIUM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS	Rejects Chromium navigations and sub-resources resolving to a non-public IP.
CHROMIUM_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS	Rejects Chromium navigations and sub-resources resolving to a public IP.
WEBHOOK_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS	Rejects webhook URLs (success, error, events) resolving to a non-public IP.
WEBHOOK_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS	Rejects webhook URLs resolving to a public IP.
API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS	Rejects downloadFrom URLs resolving to a non-public IP.
API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS	Rejects downloadFrom URLs resolving to a public IP.
LIBREOFFICE_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS	Rejects LibreOffice outbound fetches resolving to a non-public IP.
LIBREOFFICE_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS	Rejects LibreOffice outbound fetches resolving to a public IP.

Non-public means loopback, RFC1918, link-local, or IPv6 unique-local. Since 8.37.0, it also covers carrier-grade NAT (100.64.0.0/10, where some clouds serve instance metadata) and benchmarking (198.18.0.0/15). The check also unwraps IPv6 forms that embed an IPv4 destination, IPv4-mapped (::ffff:10.0.0.1), IPv4-translated, 6to4 (2002::/16), and Teredo (2001::/32), and rejects them when the embedded IPv4 is non-public.

LibreOffice also exposes LIBREOFFICE_ALLOW_LIST and LIBREOFFICE_DENY_LIST, mirroring Chromium and webhook.

Rejected URLs return 403 Forbidden. LibreOffice fetches are the exception: the proxy rejects them inside the conversion, which succeeds without the resource. Since 8.37.0, a downloadFrom redirect to a rejected URL returns the same bare 403 as the first hop, with no detail about the rule that matched.

Precedence

1. Deny-list always wins. A deny-list match rejects the URL regardless of allow-list or IP-class variables.
2. Allow-list bypasses the IP check. A match skips *_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS and *_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS.
3. IP-class variables apply last. Both flags on rejects every URL except allow-list matches.

Both lists match the URL with its scheme and host lowercased. Since 8.37.0, they also match it without userinfo, so http://trusted.example.com@10.0.0.1/ no longer satisfies an allow-list anchored on trusted\.example\.com, and http://a@127.0.0.1/ no longer slips past a deny-list anchored on 127\.. The request still carries the credentials.

danger

An allow-list entry turns off both IP-class checks for every URL it matches, and the pattern alone decides which URLs those are. A pattern that stops at the hostname, such as ^https://trusted\.example\.com, also matches https://trusted.example.com.attacker.example/. Read Writing a Safe Allow-List before setting one.

Writing a Safe Allow-List

The pattern is the only thing between a request and an internal host, so write it to match the hosts you trust and nothing else.

1. Start with ^. Without it the pattern matches anywhere in the URL, so http://attacker.example/?u=trusted.example.com passes.
2. Escape every dot. An unescaped . matches any character, so internal.example.com also matches internalxexamplexcom.
3. Terminate the host with /, :, $, or a group such as (:|/|$). A pattern that ends at the hostname also matches any suffix an attacker appends.
4. Never put . or [^/] in the host. Both match @, ? and #, so an attacker can move the trusted name into the userinfo or the fragment. A positive class such as [a-z0-9.-] cannot leave the authority.

Pattern	Verdict
trusted\.example\.com	Unanchored. Matches anywhere in the URL.
^https://trusted\.example\.com	Host not terminated. Matches trusted.example.com.attacker.example.
^https://.+\.example\.com/	. matches @ and #. Matches attacker.example/#x.example.com/.
.+	Matches every URL.
^https://trusted\.example\.com(:[0-9]+)?(/|$)	Safe.
^https://[a-z0-9-]+\.example\.com/	Safe. The class cannot leave the authority.

Since 8.37.0, Gotenberg audits every allow-list at startup and logs a warning naming the variable and the entry when a pattern shows one of these shapes. The warning never blocks startup.

Environment Proxy

Gotenberg ignores the proxy environment variables by default. Each module opts in with its own variable, all false by default.

Environment variable	Effect
CHROMIUM_ENABLE_ENVIRONMENT_PROXY	Routes Chromium navigations and sub-resources through the proxy.
LIBREOFFICE_ENABLE_ENVIRONMENT_PROXY	Routes LibreOffice outbound fetches through the proxy.
API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_ENABLE_ENVIRONMENT_PROXY	Routes downloadFrom fetches through the proxy.
WEBHOOK_ENABLE_ENVIRONMENT_PROXY	Routes webhook callbacks through the proxy.

Gotenberg reads HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY and NO_PROXY, plus their lowercase spellings, and authenticates with the credentials embedded in the proxy URL. Chromium and LibreOffice cannot authenticate to a proxy themselves, so Gotenberg performs the CONNECT handshake for them. Give those two an http or https proxy URL.

Enabling a variable relaxes no filter. The allow-list, the deny-list and the IP-class checks run against the destination URL before the request reaches the proxy, on every redirect hop. Only DNS pinning changes: a hop the proxy carries is dialed against the proxy, which owns DNS from there, while a hop the proxy declines, such as a NO_PROXY host, stays pinned to the IPs resolved during validation.

CHROMIUM_ENABLE_ENVIRONMENT_PROXY needs CHROMIUM_PROXY_SERVER and CHROMIUM_HOST_RESOLVER_RULES unset. Both skip the pinning proxy that performs the upstream handshake.

Gotenberg refuses to start when a module has its variable on and a proxy variable that is not a usable proxy URL. The error names the variable and never prints its value.

warning

Gotenberg 8.34.0 and earlier inherited HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY implicitly, so allow-listed webhook callbacks, downloadFrom fetches and LibreOffice fetches egressed through the proxy with no variable set. They now egress directly. Set the module variable to restore the proxy.

Recipes

Internet-Facing API

Block private destinations across the four modules.

compose.yaml

services:
  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8
    environment:
      CHROMIUM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"
      WEBHOOK_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"
      API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"
      LIBREOFFICE_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"

Whitelist known internal hosts:

environment:
  CHROMIUM_ALLOW_LIST: "^https?://[a-z0-9-]+\\.internal\\.example\\.com(:[0-9]+)?(/|$)"
  WEBHOOK_ALLOW_LIST: "^https?://hooks\\.internal\\.example\\.com(:[0-9]+)?(/|$)"

Both patterns terminate the host, so they match the internal hosts and nothing that merely starts with them. See Writing a Safe Allow-List.

Air-Gapped Network

Block traffic that would leave the private network.

compose.yaml

services:
  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8
    environment:
      CHROMIUM_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS: "true"
      WEBHOOK_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS: "true"
      API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS: "true"
      LIBREOFFICE_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS: "true"

Strict Whitelist

Combine both flags. Every destination must match the allow-list.

compose.yaml

services:
  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg:8
    environment:
      CHROMIUM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"
      CHROMIUM_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS: "true"
      CHROMIUM_ALLOW_LIST: "^https://(api|cdn|images)\\.internal\\.example\\.com(:[0-9]+)?(/|$)"

Equivalent of an egress firewall expressed at the Gotenberg layer. The allow-list is the only gate here, so the pattern has to terminate the host. Without the trailing group it would also admit https://api.internal.example.com.attacker.example/.

Trusted Network (Default)

Do nothing. The defaults work for Docker Compose and Kubernetes deployments.

Decision Matrix

URL shape	*_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS=false (default)	*_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS=true	*_DENY_PUBLIC_IPS=true	Both true
Public hostname	passes	passes	rejected	rejected
Private IP literal	passes	rejected	passes	rejected
Private hostname → private IP	passes	rejected	passes	rejected
Cloud metadata IP (169.254.169.254)	passes	rejected	passes	rejected
URL matching *_ALLOW_LIST	passes	passes (bypass)	passes (bypass)	passes (bypass)
URL matching *_DENY_LIST	rejected	rejected	rejected	rejected

Migration from 8.31.0

8.32.0 removes the baked-in private-range regex from WEBHOOK_DENY_LIST and API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_LIST. Operators who relied on it set the matching IP-class variable.

environment:
  WEBHOOK_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"
  API_DOWNLOAD_FROM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS: "true"

The DNS-based check covers IP literals and hostnames that resolve to a private IP. It is strictly more than the previous textual regex.

If you prefer textual matching, paste the previous regex back into the deny-list:

^https?://(10\.|172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[01])\.|192\.168\.|169\.254\.|0\.0\.0\.0|127\.|localhost|\[::1\]|\[fd)

Treat it as best-effort. It matches the address as written, so it misses the forms that resolve to the same host: http://[::ffff:127.0.0.1]/, http://2130706433/, and any hostname that resolves to a private IP. *_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS catches all of them because it checks the resolved address.

8.31.0 also blocked Chromium sub-resources resolving to private IPs by default. 8.32.0 restores the 8.30.x permissive behavior. Set CHROMIUM_DENY_PRIVATE_IPS=true for the strict 8.31.0-style posture.

Operator-supplied deny-list patterns are honored as before. Only the baked-in defaults changed.

What's Next?

Observe requests with Telemetry, or tune the instance in Configuration.