diff --git a/steamcache/handler.go b/steamcache/handler.go
index 1bad934..4f3dbf7 100644
--- a/steamcache/handler.go
+++ b/steamcache/handler.go
@@ -345,6 +345,18 @@ func (sc *SteamCache) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			req.Host = r.Host
 		} else { // if no upstream server is configured, proxy the request to the host specified in the request
 			host := r.Host
+			if !hostAllowedForDirectFetch(host) {
+				logger.Logger.Warn().
+					Str("host", host).
+					Str("client_ip", clientIP).
+					Msg("Rejecting direct-fetch Host (not a Steam CDN name)")
+				sc.metrics.IncrementErrors()
+				if isNew {
+					coalescedReq.complete(nil, fmt.Errorf("host not allowed for direct fetch"))
+				}
+				http.Error(w, "Invalid URL", http.StatusBadRequest)
+				return
+			}
 			if r.Header.Get("X-Sls-Https") == "enable" {
 				host = "https://" + host
 			} else {
diff --git a/steamcache/service.go b/steamcache/service.go
index 358db90..3ecdd3a 100644
--- a/steamcache/service.go
+++ b/steamcache/service.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
+	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -163,3 +164,44 @@ func generateServiceCacheKey(urlPath string, servicePrefix string) (string, erro
 	}
 	return servicePrefix + "/" + hash, nil
 }
+
+// requestHostName strips a port and brackets from an HTTP Host header.
+func requestHostName(host string) string {
+	host = strings.TrimSpace(host)
+	if host == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	if h, _, err := net.SplitHostPort(host); err == nil {
+		host = h
+	}
+	return strings.Trim(host, "[]")
+}
+
+func hostIsLiteralIP(host string) bool {
+	return net.ParseIP(requestHostName(host)) != nil
+}
+
+// defaultDirectFetchSuffixes are CDN names Steam actually uses. Applied only when
+// no configured upstream is set and the request Host is used as the fetch target.
+var defaultDirectFetchSuffixes = []string{
+	"steamcontent.com",
+	"steampowered.com",
+	"steamstatic.com",
+}
+
+// hostAllowedForDirectFetch reports whether Host may be used as an origin when
+// upstream is empty. Literal IPs are rejected (LAN/metadata SSRF). Names must
+// be Steam CDN suffixes so a spoofed User-Agent cannot turn the cache into an
+// open reverse proxy.
+func hostAllowedForDirectFetch(host string) bool {
+	name := strings.ToLower(requestHostName(host))
+	if name == "" || hostIsLiteralIP(host) {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, suf := range defaultDirectFetchSuffixes {
+		if name == suf || strings.HasSuffix(name, "."+suf) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/steamcache/steamcache.go b/steamcache/steamcache.go
index d629d58..fc943a3 100644
--- a/steamcache/steamcache.go
+++ b/steamcache/steamcache.go
@@ -387,11 +387,10 @@ func newHTTPClient(transport *http.Transport) *http.Client {
 		Timeout:   60 * time.Second, // Optimized timeout for better responsiveness
 		// Add redirect policy for better performance
 		CheckRedirect: func(req *http.Request, via []*http.Request) error {
-			// Limit redirects to prevent infinite loops
-			if len(via) >= 10 {
-				return http.ErrUseLastResponse
-			}
-			return nil
+			// Do not follow redirects. Steam CDN chunk/manifest fetches are
+			// expected to be 200; following Location would let an origin send
+			// the cache at an arbitrary internal URL.
+			return http.ErrUseLastResponse
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/steamcache/steamcache_test.go b/steamcache/steamcache_test.go
index 8db3061..9762436 100644
--- a/steamcache/steamcache_test.go
+++ b/steamcache/steamcache_test.go
@@ -1165,3 +1165,61 @@ func TestClientRateLimiter_BlackBox(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Error("different clients must have distinct limiters")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHostAllowedForDirectFetch(t *testing.T) {
+	allowed := []string{
+		"lancache.steamcontent.com",
+		"cache1-iad1.steamcontent.com:443",
+		"steamcontent.com",
+		"content.steampowered.com",
+		"cdn.steamstatic.com",
+	}
+	denied := []string{
+		"",
+		"127.0.0.1",
+		"127.0.0.1:80",
+		"[::1]:80",
+		"192.168.1.1",
+		"169.254.169.254",
+		"evil.example",
+		"example.com",
+		"notsteamcontent.com",
+	}
+	for _, h := range allowed {
+		if !hostAllowedForDirectFetch(h) {
+			t.Errorf("expected allowed: %q", h)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, h := range denied {
+		if hostAllowedForDirectFetch(h) {
+			t.Errorf("expected denied: %q", h)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDirectFetchRejectsNonSteamHost(t *testing.T) {
+	td := t.TempDir()
+	sc, err := New("127.0.0.1:0", "1MB", "0", td, "", "lru", "lru", 200, 5, "0", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("New: %v", err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { sc.Shutdown() })
+
+	req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/depot/ssrf/chunk", nil)
+	req.Host = "127.0.0.1"
+	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", "Valve/Steam HTTP Client 1.0")
+	rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	sc.ServeHTTP(rec, req)
+	if rec.Code != http.StatusBadRequest {
+		t.Errorf("IP Host: expected 400, got %d", rec.Code)
+	}
+
+	req2 := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/depot/ssrf/chunk2", nil)
+	req2.Host = "evil.example"
+	req2.Header.Set("User-Agent", "Valve/Steam HTTP Client 1.0")
+	rec2 := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	sc.ServeHTTP(rec2, req2)
+	if rec2.Code != http.StatusBadRequest {
+		t.Errorf("non-CDN Host: expected 400, got %d", rec2.Code)
+	}
+}