diff --git a/packages/plugin-sdk/src/backend.ts b/packages/plugin-sdk/src/backend.ts
index ae9aa19db..e8bc958cc 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-sdk/src/backend.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-sdk/src/backend.ts
@@ -1631,6 +1631,8 @@ export interface PluginNotify {
 }
 
 export interface PluginFetchInit {
+  /** Return redirect responses without following them, or reject them (default). */
+  redirect?: "error" | "manual";
   method?: string;
   headers?: Record<string, string>;
   body?: string;
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/locales/en.json b/plugins/homepage/locales/en.json
index f7d6fe17b..78f5b6584 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/locales/en.json
+++ b/plugins/homepage/locales/en.json
@@ -167,5 +167,15 @@
       "title": "Use the homepage",
       "description": "View and edit the homepage canvas and dashboard service links."
     }
+  },
+  "settings": {
+    "privateEndpoints": {
+      "label": "Allowed private hosts",
+      "description": "Exact private or loopback hostnames/IPs for Ping Status and Custom API widgets. Separate entries with commas or newlines; omit schemes, ports and paths. Empty blocks private destinations."
+    },
+    "privateCertificateAuthority": {
+      "label": "Private certificate authority (PEM)",
+      "description": "Optional trusted CA bundle for allowlisted hosts. Certificate verification remains enabled. Leave empty to use the system trust store."
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/locales/translated/zh_CN.json b/plugins/homepage/locales/translated/zh_CN.json
index 2009051b2..3dfacbcda 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/locales/translated/zh_CN.json
+++ b/plugins/homepage/locales/translated/zh_CN.json
@@ -158,5 +158,15 @@
     "selectHosts": "选择主机",
     "listLayout": "列表",
     "gridLayout": "网格"
+  },
+  "settings": {
+    "privateEndpoints": {
+      "label": "允许访问的私网主机",
+      "description": "允许 Ping 状态和自定义 API 组件访问的私网或回环主机名/IP。用逗号或换行分隔，不包含协议、端口或路径。留空则禁止访问私网。"
+    },
+    "privateCertificateAuthority": {
+      "label": "私网证书颁发机构（PEM）",
+      "description": "可选的可信 CA 证书，仅用于白名单中的主机。仍会验证证书；留空使用系统信任库。"
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/manifest.json b/plugins/homepage/manifest.json
index 8b6c5fd08..ccbc32ec3 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/manifest.json
+++ b/plugins/homepage/manifest.json
@@ -48,6 +48,24 @@
     "actionSlots": [
       { "id": "dashboard.secondaryView", "accepts": ["component"] }
     ],
-    "syncEntities": ["dashboardServiceLinks", "homepageItems"]
+    "syncEntities": ["dashboardServiceLinks", "homepageItems"],
+    "settings": {
+      "admin": [
+        {
+          "key": "privateEndpoints",
+          "type": "textarea",
+          "labelKey": "settings.privateEndpoints.label",
+          "descriptionKey": "settings.privateEndpoints.description",
+          "default": ""
+        },
+        {
+          "key": "privateCertificateAuthority",
+          "type": "textarea",
+          "labelKey": "settings.privateCertificateAuthority.label",
+          "descriptionKey": "settings.privateCertificateAuthority.description",
+          "default": ""
+        }
+      ]
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/src/backend/outbound-routes.ts b/plugins/homepage/src/backend/outbound-routes.ts
index c4bc2f555..7a2a5c048 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/src/backend/outbound-routes.ts
+++ b/plugins/homepage/src/backend/outbound-routes.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,35 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
     expires: number;
   }
   const pingCache = new Map<string, PingCacheEntry>();
+
+  const privateRequestOptions = async (url: string) => {
+    const settings = await ctx.settings.getAll("admin");
+    const raw = settings.privateEndpoints;
+    const allowPrivateHosts =
+      typeof raw === "string"
+        ? [
+            ...new Set(
+              raw
+                .split(/[\r\n,]+/)
+                .map((host) => host.trim().toLowerCase())
+                .filter((host) => /^[a-z0-9._:-]+$/.test(host)),
+            ),
+          ]
+        : [];
+    const hostname = new URL(url).hostname
+      .replace(/^\[|\]$/g, "")
+      .toLowerCase();
+    const ca = settings.privateCertificateAuthority;
+    return {
+      allowPrivateHosts,
+      ...(allowPrivateHosts.includes(hostname) &&
+      typeof ca === "string" &&
+      ca.trim()
+        ? { tls: { ca: ca.trim() } }
+        : {}),
+    };
+  };
+
   const PING_CACHE_SIZE = 200;
 
   const proxyCache = new Map<string, { data: unknown; expires: number }>();
@@ -304,7 +333,9 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
       return res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid URL" });
     }
 
-    const cached = pingCache.get(targetUrl);
+    const requestOptions = await privateRequestOptions(targetUrl);
+    const cacheKey = JSON.stringify([targetUrl, requestOptions]);
+    const cached = pingCache.get(cacheKey);
     if (cached && cached.expires > Date.now()) {
       return res.json({
         ok: cached.ok,
@@ -318,7 +349,9 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
       method: "HEAD" | "GET",
     ): Promise<number | null> => {
       const response = await ctx.fetch(url, {
+        ...requestOptions,
         method,
+        redirect: "manual",
         timeoutMs: FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS,
       });
       await response.body?.cancel().catch(() => {});
@@ -332,7 +365,7 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
         code = await requestStatus(targetUrl, "GET");
       }
       const result = {
-        ok: code !== null && code < 400,
+        ok: code !== null && (code < 400 || code === 401 || code === 403),
         statusCode: code,
         latencyMs: Math.round(performance.now() - start),
       };
@@ -340,7 +373,7 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
         const oldest = pingCache.keys().next().value;
         if (oldest) pingCache.delete(oldest);
       }
-      pingCache.set(targetUrl, { ...result, expires: Date.now() + ttl });
+      pingCache.set(cacheKey, { ...result, expires: Date.now() + ttl });
       res.json(result);
     } catch (err) {
       ctx.log.warn(`Ping failed for ${targetUrl}: ${String(err)}`);
@@ -389,13 +422,16 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
       return res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid URL" });
     }
 
-    const cached = proxyCache.get(targetUrl);
+    const requestOptions = await privateRequestOptions(targetUrl);
+    const cacheKey = JSON.stringify([targetUrl, requestOptions]);
+    const cached = proxyCache.get(cacheKey);
     if (cached && cached.expires > Date.now()) {
       return res.json(cached.data);
     }
 
     try {
       const response = await ctx.fetch(targetUrl, {
+        ...requestOptions,
         timeoutMs: FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS,
       });
       if (!response.ok)
@@ -412,7 +448,7 @@ export function registerOutboundRoutes(
         const oldest = proxyCache.keys().next().value;
         if (oldest) proxyCache.delete(oldest);
       }
-      proxyCache.set(targetUrl, { data, expires: Date.now() + ttl });
+      proxyCache.set(cacheKey, { data, expires: Date.now() + ttl });
       res.json(data);
     } catch (err) {
       const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/helpers.ts b/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/helpers.ts
index 5aaf90e8d..9ef16edc1 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/helpers.ts
+++ b/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/helpers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import http from "node:http";
+import type { PluginFetchInit } from "@termix/plugin-sdk/backend";
 import type { AddressInfo } from "node:net";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 import express, { type Router } from "express";
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ export async function startServer(
   options: {
     permissions?: string[];
     users?: string[];
-    fetch?: (url: string, init?: { method?: string }) => Promise<Response>;
+    fetch?: (url: string, init?: PluginFetchInit) => Promise<Response>;
   } = {},
 ): Promise<TestServer> {
   const db = await createTestDb(pluginDir);
diff --git a/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/outbound-routes.test.ts b/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/outbound-routes.test.ts
index 33b9ed938..53521404e 100644
--- a/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/outbound-routes.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/homepage/tests/backend/outbound-routes.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import type { PluginFetch } from "@termix/plugin-sdk/backend";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { startServer, type TestServer } from "./helpers";
 
 let server: TestServer;
@@ -94,3 +95,101 @@ describe("outbound routes go through ctx.fetch", () => {
     expect((await server.request("GET", "/favicon")).status).toBe(400);
   });
 });
+
+describe("ping reachability policy", () => {
+  it.each([200, 302, 307, 401, 403, 404, 503])(
+    "classifies HTTP %s without following redirects",
+    async (status) => {
+      const fetch = vi.fn<PluginFetch>(
+        async () => new Response(null, { status }),
+      );
+      server = await startServer({ fetch });
+      const result = await server.request(
+        "GET",
+        "/ping?url=https://example.com",
+      );
+      expect(result.body).toMatchObject({
+        ok: status < 400 || status === 401 || status === 403,
+        statusCode: status,
+      });
+      expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "https://example.com",
+        expect.objectContaining({ redirect: "manual", allowPrivateHosts: [] }),
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("retries HEAD-not-supported as GET with the same policy", async () => {
+    const fetch = vi
+      .fn()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(new Response(null, { status: 405 }))
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(new Response(null, { status: 401 }));
+    server = await startServer({ fetch });
+    const result = await server.request("GET", "/ping?url=https://example.com");
+    expect(result.body.ok).toBe(true);
+    expect(fetch.mock.calls.map((call) => call[1].method)).toEqual([
+      "HEAD",
+      "GET",
+    ]);
+    expect(
+      fetch.mock.calls.every((call) => call[1].redirect === "manual"),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it.each(["ping", "proxy"])(
+    "%s uses only the admin allowlist and invalidates cached results on revocation",
+    async (route) => {
+      const fetch = vi.fn<PluginFetch>(async () =>
+        jsonResponse({ alive: true }),
+      );
+      server = await startServer({ fetch });
+      await server.mock.ctx.settings.set(
+        "privateEndpoints",
+        "SERVICE.LAN,127.0.0.1\nservice.lan\nhttps://invalid.example",
+      );
+      const path = `/${route}?url=http://service.lan`;
+      await server.request("GET", path);
+      expect(fetch).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+        "http://service.lan",
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          allowPrivateHosts: ["service.lan", "127.0.0.1"],
+        }),
+      );
+      await server.request("GET", path);
+      expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      await server.mock.ctx.settings.set("privateEndpoints", "");
+      await server.request("GET", path);
+      expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+      expect(fetch).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+        "http://service.lan",
+        expect.objectContaining({ allowPrivateHosts: [] }),
+      );
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("uses custom CA trust only for allowlisted hosts and refreshes cached results on CA change", async () => {
+    const fetch = vi.fn<PluginFetch>(async () => jsonResponse({ alive: true }));
+    server = await startServer({ fetch });
+    await server.mock.ctx.settings.set("privateEndpoints", "service.lan");
+    await server.mock.ctx.settings.set(
+      "privateCertificateAuthority",
+      "PEM ONE",
+    );
+    await server.request("GET", "/ping?url=https://service.lan");
+    expect(fetch).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+      "https://service.lan",
+      expect.objectContaining({ tls: { ca: "PEM ONE" } }),
+    );
+    await server.mock.ctx.settings.set(
+      "privateCertificateAuthority",
+      "PEM TWO",
+    );
+    await server.request("GET", "/ping?url=https://service.lan");
+    expect(fetch).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+      "https://service.lan",
+      expect.objectContaining({ tls: { ca: "PEM TWO" } }),
+    );
+    await server.request("GET", "/ping?url=https://example.com");
+    expect(fetch.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[1]).not.toHaveProperty("tls");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/backend/plugins/ctx-notify.ts b/src/backend/plugins/ctx-notify.ts
index 8d8d8c32a..f40d3d8af 100644
--- a/src/backend/plugins/ctx-notify.ts
+++ b/src/backend/plugins/ctx-notify.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ export function createPluginFetch(deps: Deps): PluginFetch {
           url,
           {
             method: init.method ?? "GET",
+            redirect: init.redirect,
             headers: init.headers,
             body: init.body,
             signal: controller.signal,
diff --git a/src/backend/tests/plugins/ctx-notify.test.ts b/src/backend/tests/plugins/ctx-notify.test.ts
index e6536001c..a7ea183df 100644
--- a/src/backend/tests/plugins/ctx-notify.test.ts
+++ b/src/backend/tests/plugins/ctx-notify.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ const state = vi.hoisted(() => ({
   fetchCalls: [] as Array<{ url: string; allowlist: readonly string[] }>,
   lastTls: null as Record<string, unknown> | null,
   lastSignal: null as AbortSignal | null,
+  lastRedirect: undefined as RequestRedirect | undefined,
 }));
 
 vi.mock("../../database/repositories/factory.js", () => ({
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ vi.mock("../../utils/safe-outbound-fetch.js", () => ({
     tls: Record<string, unknown> = {},
   ) => {
     state.lastTls = tls;
+    state.lastRedirect = init.redirect;
     state.lastSignal = init.signal ?? null;
     state.fetchCalls.push({ url, allowlist });
     return new Response("ok", { status: 200 });
@@ -256,6 +258,14 @@ describe("ctx.notify", () => {
 });
 
 describe("ctx.fetch", () => {
+  it("forwards manual redirect handling without enabling redirect following", async () => {
+    const ctx = contextFor(["network:outbound"]);
+    await ctx.fetch("https://example.com", { redirect: "manual" });
+    expect(state.lastRedirect).toBe("manual");
+    await ctx.fetch("https://example.com");
+    expect(state.lastRedirect).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it("refuses without network:outbound", async () => {
     const ctx = contextFor([]);
     await expect(ctx.fetch("https://example.com")).rejects.toThrow(
diff --git a/src/backend/tests/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.test.ts b/src/backend/tests/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.test.ts
index ef3022c61..cd24b1db7 100644
--- a/src/backend/tests/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.test.ts
+++ b/src/backend/tests/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.test.ts
@@ -281,3 +281,38 @@ describe("safeOutboundFetch", () => {
     }
   }, 10_000);
 });
+
+describe("redirect handling", () => {
+  it.each([undefined, "error", "follow", "manual"] as const)(
+    "never follows redirects with mode %s",
+    async (redirect) => {
+      const paths: string[] = [];
+      const server = createServer((req, res) => {
+        paths.push(req.url!);
+        res.writeHead(302, { Location: "/private-target" });
+        res.end();
+      });
+      await new Promise<void>((resolve) =>
+        server.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", resolve),
+      );
+      const { port } = server.address() as AddressInfo;
+      try {
+        const response = safeOutboundFetch(
+          `http://127.0.0.1:${port}/`,
+          { redirect },
+          ["127.0.0.1"],
+        );
+        if (redirect === "manual") {
+          const result = await response;
+          expect(result.status).toBe(302);
+          await result.body?.cancel();
+        } else {
+          await expect(response).rejects.toThrow();
+        }
+        expect(paths).toEqual(["/"]);
+      } finally {
+        await new Promise<void>((resolve) => server.close(() => resolve()));
+      }
+    },
+  );
+});
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.ts b/src/backend/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.ts
index f27a36121..72eb85a1f 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.ts
+++ b/src/backend/utils/safe-outbound-fetch.ts
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ export async function safeOutboundFetch(
     return (await undiciFetch(url.toString(), {
       ...options,
       dispatcher: proxy as unknown as Dispatcher,
-      redirect: "error",
+      redirect: options.redirect === "manual" ? "manual" : "error",
     } as never)) as unknown as Response;
   }
 
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ export async function safeOutboundFetch(
     const response = await undiciFetch(url.toString(), {
       ...options,
       dispatcher,
-      redirect: "error",
+      redirect: options.redirect === "manual" ? "manual" : "error",
     });
     // close() waits for the body, which the caller reads after we return.
     dispatcher.close().catch(() => {});