diff --git a/docling_core/utils/file.py b/docling_core/utils/file.py
index ca8dba39..c858bda1 100644
--- a/docling_core/utils/file.py
+++ b/docling_core/utils/file.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """File-related utilities."""
 
 import ipaddress
+import logging
 import re
 import tempfile
 from io import BytesIO
@@ -14,10 +15,27 @@
 
 from docling_core.types.doc.utils import relative_path
 from docling_core.types.io import DocumentStream
+from docling_core.utils.settings import settings
+
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 _MAX_REDIRECTS = 5
 
 
+def _ip_in_allowlist(ip: ipaddress.IPv4Address, allowlist: list[str]) -> bool:
+    for entry in allowlist:
+        entry = entry.strip()
+        if not entry:
+            continue
+        try:
+            network = ipaddress.ip_network(entry)
+            if ip in network:
+                return True
+        except ValueError:
+            _logger.warning(f"Skipping malformed entry in DOCLINGCORE_ALLOWED_PRIVATE_IPS: {entry!r}")
+    return False
+
+
 def _is_safe_url(url: str) -> bool:
     """Return whether a URL resolves to a globally routable address."""
     try:
@@ -37,6 +55,8 @@ def _is_safe_url(url: str) -> bool:
                 ip = ipaddress.ip_address(ip_str)
             except (socket.gaierror, socket.herror):
                 return False
+        if settings.allowed_private_ips and _ip_in_allowlist(ip, settings.allowed_private_ips):
+            return True
 
         return ip.is_global and not (
             ip.is_private
diff --git a/docling_core/utils/settings.py b/docling_core/utils/settings.py
index c54fd356..9dc89d3f 100644
--- a/docling_core/utils/settings.py
+++ b/docling_core/utils/settings.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ class CoreSettings(BaseSettings):
 
     allow_image_file_uri: bool = False
     max_image_decoded_size: int = 20 * 1024 * 1024  # 20MB
+    allowed_private_ips: list[str] = []
 
 
 settings = CoreSettings()
diff --git a/test/test_utils.py b/test/test_utils.py
index 3df2eef7..1513de2e 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/test_utils.py
@@ -192,7 +192,54 @@ def test_is_safe_url_rejects_private_networks():
     assert _is_safe_url("http://8.8.8.8/file")
     assert _is_safe_url("https://example.com/file")
     assert _is_safe_url("https://github.com/github/file")
+    
+def test_ip_in_allowlist():
+    import ipaddress
+    from docling_core.utils.file import _ip_in_allowlist
 
+    assert _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("127.0.0.1"), ["127.0.0.1"])
+    assert not _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("127.0.0.1"), ["127.0.0.2"])
+
+    assert _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("10.20.30.40"), ["10.0.0.0/8"])
+    assert not _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("10.21.0.1"), ["10.20.0.0/16"])
+
+    assert _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("192.168.1.100"), ["192.168.1.0/24"])
+    assert not _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("192.168.1.100"), ["192.168.1.5/24"])
+
+    assert _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("127.0.0.1"), ["garbage", "127.0.0.1"])
+    assert not _ip_in_allowlist(ipaddress.ip_address("127.0.0.1"), ["garbage", "300.300.300.300"])
+
+
+
+def test_allowed_private_ips(monkeypatch):
+    import pytest
+    from docling_core.utils.file import resolve_source_to_stream
+    from docling_core.utils.settings import settings
+    from requests import Response
+
+    def mock_get(*args, **kwargs):
+        r = Response()
+        r.status_code = 200
+        r._content = b"ok"
+        return r
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("requests.Session.get", mock_get)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "allowed_private_ips", [])
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="URL is not allowed"):
+        resolve_source_to_stream("http://10.0.0.1/file")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "allowed_private_ips", [""])
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="URL is not allowed"):
+        resolve_source_to_stream("http://10.0.0.1/file")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "allowed_private_ips", ["127.0.0.1"])
+    assert resolve_source_to_stream("http://127.0.0.1/file").stream.read() == b"ok"
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(settings, "allowed_private_ips", ["192.168.1.0/24"])
+    assert resolve_source_to_stream("http://192.168.1.42/doc").stream.read() == b"ok"
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="URL is not allowed"):
+        resolve_source_to_stream("http://192.168.2.1/doc")
 
 def test_resolve_remote_filename_sanitizes_content_disposition(monkeypatch):
     """Test filename normalization from Content-Disposition."""