HTTP API & SSRF prevention

When to use this skill

Use this skill whenever code makes an outbound HTTP request:

• Fetching a user-supplied URL (webhook, import, avatar, feed, oEmbed-like lookup).
• Calling an external API from a setting, form, or scheduled job.
• Using wp_remote_get(), wp_remote_post(), or wp_remote_request().
• Building a URL from $_GET, $_POST, options, or remote configuration.

If any part of the URL is influenced by users or remote state, treat it as an SSRF sink. wp_safe_remote_*() runs wp_http_validate_url() on the URL and every redirect, blocking private/loopback ranges by default.

Related: see the rest-api-security skill for inbound REST endpoints and the input-sanitization-validation skill for general URL sanitization.

Core principles (and why they matter)

1. wp_safe_remote_*() for untrusted URLs. wp_safe_remote_get() and wp_safe_remote_post() set reject_unsafe_urls, which validates the URL and redirects against private/loopback ranges.
2. Allowlist hosts, don't blocklist. A blocklist will miss metadata.google.internal, localhost aliases, IP-encoding tricks, and redirect chains. Allow only the hosts and ports you intend to call.
3. Validate before the request. Run wp_http_validate_url() or compare the parsed host against an allowlist before calling the HTTP API.
4. Check is_wp_error() and the response code. A failed request can leak internal error messages or be confused with valid data.
5. Escape fetched data before output. The response body is untrusted input; escape or sanitize it before rendering.
6. Don't follow redirects blindly. wp_safe_remote_*() validates redirect targets, but if you manually chase redirects you may re-enter internal space.

Step-by-step implementation

1. Determine whether the URL is trusted (hardcoded, signed) or untrusted (user input).
2. For untrusted URLs:
   • Parse the host and compare it to an explicit allowlist.
   • Run wp_http_validate_url() as an additional guard.
   • Use wp_safe_remote_get() / wp_safe_remote_post().
3. For trusted URLs, wp_remote_*() is acceptable but still validate the shape.
4. Handle is_wp_error() and check the response code with wp_remote_retrieve_response_code().
5. Sanitize or escape the response body before use/output.
6. Log failures without exposing secrets or internal network details.

Supporting references

Reference	Load when
HTTP API & SSRF prevention checklist	Before final verification of the http api & ssrf prevention controls.
Secure outbound HTTP request	Implementing allowlisted webhook delivery with safe HTTP requests and response handling.

Common AI mistakes / anti-patterns

Mistake 1 — wp_remote_get() on user input with no validation

// ❌ Insecure: SSRF to internal services, metadata endpoints, or localhost.
$response = wp_remote_get( $_POST['url'] );

// ✅ Secure: allowlist host, validate URL, use safe remote, check errors.
$url = isset( $_POST['url'] ) ? esc_url_raw( wp_unslash( $_POST['url'] ) ) : '';
$allowed_hosts = array( 'api.example.com', 'hooks.example.com' );
$host          = wp_parse_url( $url, PHP_URL_HOST );

if ( ! $host || ! in_array( strtolower( $host ), $allowed_hosts, true ) ) {
    wp_die( esc_html__( 'Invalid URL.', 'my-plugin' ), 400 );
}

if ( ! wp_http_validate_url( $url ) ) {
    wp_die( esc_html__( 'URL is not safe.', 'my-plugin' ), 400 );
}

$response = wp_safe_remote_get( $url );
if ( is_wp_error( $response ) ) {
    wp_die( esc_html__( 'Request failed.', 'my-plugin' ), 502 );
}
$code = wp_remote_retrieve_response_code( $response );
if ( 200 !== $code ) {
    wp_die( esc_html__( 'Unexpected response.', 'my-plugin' ), 502 );
}
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );

Mistake 2 — Trusting the URL scheme without checking

// ❌ Insecure: file://, ftp://, gopher://, or php:// wrappers may be reachable.
$response = wp_remote_get( $_POST['url'] );

// ✅ Secure: wp_http_validate_url() allows only http/https.
if ( ! wp_http_validate_url( $url ) ) {
    wp_die( esc_html__( 'Only HTTP/HTTPS URLs are allowed.', 'my-plugin' ), 400 );
}

Mistake 3 — Reflecting fetched body unescaped

// ❌ Insecure: fetched HTML/JSON may contain XSS payloads.
echo wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );

// ✅ Secure: treat the body as untrusted and escape for the output context.
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );
echo '<pre>' . esc_html( $body ) . '</pre>';

Mistake 4 — Allowing internal IPs through a host allowlist bypass

// ❌ Insecure: resolves to 127.0.0.1 or metadata service.
$allowed_hosts = array( 'localhost', '169.254.169.254' );

// ✅ Secure: do not allow localhost or link-local ranges; rely on wp_http_validate_url.
$allowed_hosts = array( 'api.example.com' );

Mistake 5 — Ignoring is_wp_error()

// ❌ Insecure: $response['body'] may not exist; errors may leak internals.
$body = $response['body'];

// ✅ Secure: branch on is_wp_error() before reading the response.
if ( is_wp_error( $response ) ) {
    error_log( 'HTTP request failed: ' . $response->get_error_message() );
    return false;
}
$body = wp_remote_retrieve_body( $response );

Correct code examples

A complete, copy-paste-ready webhook fetch handler with host allowlist + safe remote + response validation is in references/secure-http-request.php.

Checklist

• Untrusted URLs use wp_safe_remote_get() / wp_safe_remote_post().
• The host is allowlisted before the request is made.
• wp_http_validate_url() is used as an additional guard.
• Only http/https schemes are accepted.
• is_wp_error() is checked before reading the response.
• The response code is validated.
• Fetched data is sanitized/escaped before output or storage.
• Failures are logged without exposing secrets or internal network details.
• Redirect chains are validated (safe remote does this automatically).

Official references

• HTTP API — Plugin Handbook
• wp_safe_remote_get()
• wp_safe_remote_post()
• wp_remote_request()
• wp_http_validate_url()
• wp_remote_retrieve_body()
• wp_remote_retrieve_response_code()
• is_wp_error()
• esc_url_raw()
• http_request_host_is_external filter
• OWASP — Server Side Request Forgery