diff --git a/crates/kingfisher-scanner/src/validation/http_validation.rs b/crates/kingfisher-scanner/src/validation/http_validation.rs
index f5af606..07080c9 100644
--- a/crates/kingfisher-scanner/src/validation/http_validation.rs
+++ b/crates/kingfisher-scanner/src/validation/http_validation.rs
@@ -480,6 +480,21 @@ pub async fn check_url_resolvable(
     allow_internal_ips: bool,
 ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let host = url.host_str().ok_or("No host in URL")?;
+
+    // If the host is already an IP literal, check it directly without DNS.
+    if let Ok(ip) = host.parse::<std::net::IpAddr>() {
+        if !allow_internal_ips && !is_ssrf_safe_ip(&ip) {
+            return Err(format!(
+                "SSRF protection: resolved IP {} for host '{}' is not a public address. \
+                 Use --allow-internal-ips to permit internal addresses.",
+                ip, host
+            )
+            .into());
+        }
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    // Hostname — resolve via DNS and check each resolved address.
     let port = url.port().unwrap_or(if url.scheme() == "https" { 443 } else { 80 });
     let addr = format!("{}:{}", host, port);
     let mut resolved_any = false;
@@ -675,4 +690,14 @@ mod tests {
         let result = check_url_resolvable(&url, true).await;
         assert!(result.is_ok(), "expected Ok with allow_internal_ips=true, got: {:?}", result);
     }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn check_url_resolvable_rejects_ipv6_loopback_literal() {
+        // IPv6 literal URL — brackets are handled by reqwest::Url, host_str() returns "::1"
+        let url = Url::parse("https://[::1]/test").unwrap();
+        let result = check_url_resolvable(&url, false).await;
+        assert!(result.is_err());
+        let err = result.unwrap_err().to_string();
+        assert!(err.contains("SSRF protection"), "expected SSRF error, got: {}", err);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/docs/USAGE.md b/docs/USAGE.md
index 72bcc55..bf2f6fd 100644
--- a/docs/USAGE.md
+++ b/docs/USAGE.md
@@ -1016,7 +1016,7 @@ If you are scanning infrastructure that uses internal endpoints for credential v
 # Scan with SSRF protection disabled (allows requests to internal IPs)
 kingfisher scan --allow-internal-ips ./repo
 
-# Also works with validate and revoke commands
+# Also works with the validate command
 kingfisher validate --allow-internal-ips --rule kingfisher.artifactory.1
 ```
 
diff --git a/src/direct_validate.rs b/src/direct_validate.rs
index 87caf06..e35df49 100644
--- a/src/direct_validate.rs
+++ b/src/direct_validate.rs
@@ -296,10 +296,16 @@ async fn execute_http_validation(
     parser: &liquid::Parser,
     timeout: Duration,
     retries: u32,
+    allow_internal_ips: bool,
 ) -> Result<DirectValidationResult> {
     // Render the URL
     let url = render_and_parse_url(parser, globals, &http_validation.request.url).await?;
 
+    // SSRF check: verify the resolved IP is public before making the request
+    crate::validation::utils::check_url_resolvable(&url, allow_internal_ips)
+        .await
+        .map_err(|e| anyhow!("URL resolution failed: {}", e))?;
+
     debug!("Validating against URL: {}", url);
 
     // Build the request
@@ -438,11 +444,16 @@ pub async fn run_direct_validation(
         crate::cli::global::TlsMode::Off | crate::cli::global::TlsMode::Lax
     );
 
-    // Build HTTP client
+    // Build HTTP client with SSRF-safe redirect policy when applicable
     let client = Client::builder()
         .danger_accept_invalid_certs(use_lax_tls)
         .timeout(Duration::from_secs(args.timeout))
         .user_agent(GLOBAL_USER_AGENT.as_str())
+        .redirect(if global_args.allow_internal_ips {
+            reqwest::redirect::Policy::default()
+        } else {
+            crate::validation::ssrf_safe_redirect_policy()
+        })
         .gzip(true)
         .deflate(true)
         .brotli(true)
@@ -569,6 +580,7 @@ pub async fn run_direct_validation(
                     &parser,
                     timeout,
                     args.retries,
+                    global_args.allow_internal_ips,
                 )
                 .await?
             }
diff --git a/src/validation.rs b/src/validation.rs
index d9e2f72..58758d0 100644
--- a/src/validation.rs
+++ b/src/validation.rs
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ pub struct ValidationClients {
 /// internal IP would bypass this check. Fully closing this gap requires
 /// disabling automatic redirects and manually following them with async DNS
 /// validation at each hop — a future enhancement.
-fn ssrf_safe_redirect_policy() -> reqwest::redirect::Policy {
+pub(crate) fn ssrf_safe_redirect_policy() -> reqwest::redirect::Policy {
     reqwest::redirect::Policy::custom(|attempt| {
         if let Some(host) = attempt.url().host_str() {
             // For IP-literal hosts, check directly without DNS.