diff --git a/.changeset/some-groups-return.md b/.changeset/some-groups-return.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a7ee2cb52233
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/some-groups-return.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': major
+---
+
+breaking: forbid external redirects by default
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
index ff1a02d834c5..f68ef11770d3 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import {
 	strip_resolution_suffix
 } from '../runtime/pathname.js';
 import { text_encoder } from '../runtime/utils.js';
+import { validate_redirect_location } from '../utils/url.js';
 
 export { VERSION } from '../version.js';
 
@@ -92,19 +93,23 @@ export function isHttpError(e, status) {
  *
  * @param {300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | ({} & number)} status The [HTTP status code](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status#redirection_messages). Must be in the range 300-308.
  * @param {string | URL} location The location to redirect to.
+ * @param {{ external?: boolean | string[] }} [options] To redirect to an external URL, you must pass `{ external: true }` to allow any external URL except `javascript:` URLs, or `{ external: [...] }` with an allowlist of permitted origins.
  * @throws {import('./public.js').Redirect} This error instructs SvelteKit to redirect to the specified location.
- * @throws {Error} If the provided status is invalid or the location cannot be used as a header value.
+ * @throws {Error} If the provided status is invalid, the location cannot be used as a header value, or the location is an external URL without permission.
  * @return {never}
  */
-export function redirect(status, location) {
+export function redirect(status, location, options) {
 	if ((!BROWSER || DEV) && (isNaN(status) || status < 300 || status > 308)) {
 		throw new Error('Invalid status code');
 	}
 
+	const href = location.toString();
+	validate_redirect_location(href, options);
+
 	throw new Redirect(
 		// @ts-ignore
 		status,
-		location.toString()
+		href
 	);
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.spec.js
index faac39323672..35575da47045 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.spec.js
@@ -67,6 +67,90 @@ describe('redirect', () => {
 		}
 	});
 
+	it('throws Redirect for external locations with external: true', () => {
+		try {
+			redirect(307, 'https://google.de', { external: true });
+			assert.fail('Expected redirect to throw');
+		} catch (e) {
+			if (!isRedirect(e)) {
+				assert.fail('Expected a Redirect error');
+			}
+
+			assert.equal(e.status, 307);
+			assert.equal(e.location, 'https://google.de');
+		}
+	});
+
+	it('throws Redirect for allowlisted external locations', () => {
+		try {
+			redirect(307, 'https://google.de/search', { external: ['https://google.de'] });
+			assert.fail('Expected redirect to throw');
+		} catch (e) {
+			if (!isRedirect(e)) {
+				assert.fail('Expected a Redirect error');
+			}
+
+			assert.equal(e.status, 307);
+			assert.equal(e.location, 'https://google.de/search');
+		}
+	});
+
+	it('throws a descriptive error for external redirect locations', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, 'https://google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL "https:\/\/google\.de"/
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('throws a descriptive error for redirect locations that parse as external', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, ' https://google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL " https:\/\/google\.de"/
+		);
+
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, '\\\\google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL "\\\\\\\\google\.de"/
+		);
+
+		assert.throws(() => redirect(307, 'x:foo'), /Cannot redirect to external URL "x:foo"/);
+	});
+
+	it('throws a descriptive error for javascript URLs with external: true', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, 'javascript:alert(1)', { external: true }),
+			/Cannot redirect to "javascript:alert\(1\)" with `{ external: true }`/
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('throws a descriptive error for normalized javascript URLs with external: true', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, 'java\tscript:alert(1)', { external: true }),
+			/Cannot redirect to "java\\tscript:alert\(1\)" with `{ external: true }`/
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('throws Redirect for allowlisted javascript URLs', () => {
+		try {
+			redirect(307, 'javascript:alert(1)', { external: ['javascript:'] });
+			assert.fail('Expected redirect to throw');
+		} catch (e) {
+			if (!isRedirect(e)) {
+				assert.fail('Expected a Redirect error');
+			}
+
+			assert.equal(e.status, 307);
+			assert.equal(e.location, 'javascript:alert(1)');
+		}
+	});
+
+	it('throws a descriptive error for disallowed external locations', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => redirect(307, 'https://evil.com', { external: ['https://google.de'] }),
+			/Cannot redirect to "https:\/\/evil\.com": URL origin is not included in the `external` allowlist/
+		);
+	});
+
 	it('throws a descriptive error for invalid redirect locations', () => {
 		assert.throws(
 			() => redirect(307, '/invalid\r\nset-cookie: x=y'),
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/utils/url.js b/packages/kit/src/utils/url.js
index 04445d3a286b..a375cc4c3a78 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/utils/url.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/utils/url.js
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 import { BROWSER, DEV } from 'esm-env';
+import { try_get_request_store } from '../exports/internal/event.js';
 
 /**
  * Matches a URI scheme. See https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3986#section-3.1
  * @type {RegExp}
  */
-export const SCHEME = /^[a-z][a-z\d+\-.]+:/i;
+export const SCHEME = /^[a-z][a-z\d+\-.]*:/i;
+// See https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2606 - no domains under the .invalid TLD can be registered
+const REDIRECT_BASE = 'https://sveltekit-redirect.invalid';
 
 const internal = new URL('a://');
 
@@ -27,6 +30,100 @@ export function is_root_relative(path) {
 	return path[0] === '/' && path[1] !== '/';
 }
 
+/**
+ * Whether a redirect location is absolute, i.e. not a root-relative or path-relative URL,
+ * and not pointing to the same origin as we're currently on (if determineable).
+ * @param {string} location
+ */
+export function is_external_location(location) {
+	const origin = BROWSER ? window.location.origin : try_get_request_store()?.event.url.origin;
+
+	try {
+		return !matches_external_allowlist_entry(location, origin ?? REDIRECT_BASE);
+	} catch {
+		return true;
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} location
+ */
+function is_javascript_location(location) {
+	try {
+		return new URL(location, REDIRECT_BASE).protocol === 'javascript:';
+	} catch {
+		return false;
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} location
+ * @param {string} allowed
+ */
+export function matches_external_allowlist_entry(location, allowed) {
+	if (location === allowed) return true;
+
+	try {
+		const allow = new URL(allowed);
+		const loc = new URL(location, allow);
+
+		// this is stricter than `loc.origin === allow.origin`, which can fail in `blob:` cases
+		return loc.protocol === allow.protocol && loc.host === allow.host;
+	} catch {
+		return false;
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {string} location
+ * @param {{ external?: boolean | string[] }} [options]
+ */
+export function validate_redirect_location(location, options) {
+	if (!is_external_location(location)) return;
+
+	const external = options?.external;
+
+	if (!external) {
+		throw new Error(
+			DEV
+				? `Cannot redirect to external URL ${JSON.stringify(location)}. ` +
+						'To redirect to an external URL, pass `{ external: true }` or an allowlist of permitted origins as the third argument to `redirect`'
+				: 'Cannot redirect to external URL unless explicitly allowed'
+		);
+	}
+
+	if (external === true) {
+		if (is_javascript_location(location)) {
+			throw new Error(
+				DEV
+					? `Cannot redirect to ${JSON.stringify(location)} with \`{ external: true }\`. ` +
+							'The `:javascript` protocol must be explicitly listed in the `external` allowlist'
+					: 'Cannot redirect to external URL unless explicitly allowed'
+			);
+		}
+
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (Array.isArray(external)) {
+		if (!external.some((allowed) => matches_external_allowlist_entry(location, allowed))) {
+			throw new Error(
+				DEV
+					? `Cannot redirect to ${JSON.stringify(location)}: URL origin is not included in the \`external\` allowlist`
+					: 'Cannot redirect to external URL unless explicitly allowed'
+			);
+		}
+
+		return;
+	}
+
+	throw new Error(
+		DEV
+			? '`redirect` options.external must be `true` or an array of allowed origins'
+			: 'Invalid redirect options.external value'
+	);
+}
+
 /**
  * @param {string} path
  * @param {import('types').TrailingSlash} trailing_slash
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/utils/url.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/utils/url.spec.js
index 4ad5244833f2..4ea102c5aed8 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/utils/url.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/utils/url.spec.js
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 import { assert, describe } from 'vitest';
-import { resolve, normalize_path, make_trackable, disable_search } from './url.js';
+import {
+	resolve,
+	normalize_path,
+	make_trackable,
+	disable_search,
+	is_external_location,
+	matches_external_allowlist_entry,
+	validate_redirect_location
+} from './url.js';
 
 describe('resolve', (test) => {
 	test('resolves a root-relative path', () => {
@@ -67,6 +75,83 @@ describe('resolve', (test) => {
 	});
 });
 
+describe('is_absolute_location', (test) => {
+	test('detects absolute URLs', () => {
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('https://example.com'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('//example.com/foo'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('mailto:hello@svelte.dev'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('javascript:alert(1)'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location(' https://example.com'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('\thttps://example.com'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('java\tscript:alert(1)'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('\\\\example.com/foo'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('/\\\\example.com/foo'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('x:foo'), true);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('blob:https://sveltekit-redirect.invalid/id'), true);
+	});
+
+	test('detects relative URLs', () => {
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('/foo'), false);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('./foo'), false);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('foo'), false);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('#hash'), false);
+		assert.equal(is_external_location('?query'), false);
+	});
+});
+
+describe('matches_external_allowlist_entry', (test) => {
+	test('matches allowed origins', () => {
+		assert.equal(matches_external_allowlist_entry('https://google.de', 'https://google.de'), true);
+		assert.equal(
+			matches_external_allowlist_entry('https://google.de/search', 'https://google.de'),
+			true
+		);
+		assert.equal(
+			matches_external_allowlist_entry('https://google.de/news', 'https://google.de/search'),
+			true
+		);
+		assert.equal(
+			matches_external_allowlist_entry('https://google.de.evil.com', 'https://google.de'),
+			false
+		);
+		assert.equal(
+			matches_external_allowlist_entry('blob:https://google.de/id', 'https://google.de'),
+			false
+		);
+		assert.equal(matches_external_allowlist_entry('https://evil.com', 'https://google.de'), false);
+	});
+});
+
+describe('validate_redirect_location', (test) => {
+	test('allows relative locations without options', () => {
+		validate_redirect_location('/foo');
+	});
+
+	test('requires permission for absolute locations', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => validate_redirect_location('https://google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL "https:\/\/google\.de"/
+		);
+	});
+
+	test('requires permission for locations that parse as absolute after URL normalization', () => {
+		assert.throws(
+			() => validate_redirect_location(' https://google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL " https:\/\/google\.de"/
+		);
+
+		assert.throws(
+			() => validate_redirect_location('\\\\google.de'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL "\\\\\\\\google\.de"/
+		);
+
+		assert.throws(
+			() => validate_redirect_location('x:foo'),
+			/Cannot redirect to external URL "x:foo"/
+		);
+	});
+});
+
 describe('normalize_path', (test) => {
 	test('normalizes paths', () => {
 		/** @type {Record<string, { ignore: string, always: string, never: string }>} */
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-encoded/+page.js b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-encoded/+page.js
index 0b5f120e8035..abd27ca9f03f 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-encoded/+page.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-encoded/+page.js
@@ -2,5 +2,7 @@ import { redirect } from '@sveltejs/kit';
 
 /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
 export function load() {
-	redirect(301, `https://example.com/redirected?returnTo=${encodeURIComponent('/foo?bar=baz')}`);
+	redirect(301, `https://example.com/redirected?returnTo=${encodeURIComponent('/foo?bar=baz')}`, {
+		external: true
+	});
 }
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-malicious/+page.js b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-malicious/+page.js
index 2f8cbe6b9caa..4755f05dc23a 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-malicious/+page.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-malicious/+page.js
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ import { redirect } from '@sveltejs/kit';
 
 /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
 export function load() {
-	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/</' + 'script>alert("pwned")');
+	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/</' + 'script>alert("pwned")', { external: true });
 }
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-server/+page.server.js b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-server/+page.server.js
index c61c65b8d644..fc04229e84a8 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-server/+page.server.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect-server/+page.server.js
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ import { redirect } from '@sveltejs/kit';
 
 /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
 export function load() {
-	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected');
+	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected', { external: true });
 }
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect/+page.js b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect/+page.js
index c61c65b8d644..fc04229e84a8 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect/+page.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/redirect/+page.js
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ import { redirect } from '@sveltejs/kit';
 
 /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
 export function load() {
-	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected');
+	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected', { external: true });
 }
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/spa-shell/+page.js b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/spa-shell/+page.js
index 55a527fff567..6714fee4a995 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/spa-shell/+page.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/prerendering/basics/src/routes/spa-shell/+page.js
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ export const ssr = false;
 
 /** @type {import('@sveltejs/kit').Load} */
 export function load() {
-	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected');
+	redirect(301, 'https://example.com/redirected', { external: true });
 }
diff --git a/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts b/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
index 75775f8ffabb..70d193237e9c 100644
--- a/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/types/index.d.ts
@@ -2893,10 +2893,13 @@ declare module '@sveltejs/kit' {
 	 *
 	 * @param status The [HTTP status code](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Status#redirection_messages). Must be in the range 300-308.
 	 * @param location The location to redirect to.
+	 * @param options To redirect to an external URL, you must pass `{ external: true }` to allow any external URL except `javascript:` URLs, or `{ external: [...] }` with an allowlist of permitted origins.
 	 * @throws {import('./public.js').Redirect} This error instructs SvelteKit to redirect to the specified location.
-	 * @throws {Error} If the provided status is invalid or the location cannot be used as a header value.
+	 * @throws {Error} If the provided status is invalid, the location cannot be used as a header value, or the location is an external URL without permission.
 	 * */
-	export function redirect(status: 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | ({} & number), location: string | URL): never;
+	export function redirect(status: 300 | 301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | ({} & number), location: string | URL, options?: {
+		external?: boolean | string[];
+	}): never;
 	/**
 	 * Checks whether this is a redirect thrown by {@link redirect}.
 	 * @param e The object to check.