diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/CoreHtmlNodeRenderer.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/CoreHtmlNodeRenderer.java
index 3ffeba0cf..7d3552668 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/CoreHtmlNodeRenderer.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/CoreHtmlNodeRenderer.java
@@ -141,7 +141,14 @@ public void visit(IndentedCodeBlock indentedCodeBlock) {
     @Override
     public void visit(Link link) {
         Map<String, String> attrs = new LinkedHashMap<>();
-        String url = context.encodeUrl(link.getDestination());
+        String url = link.getDestination();
+
+        if (context.shouldSanitizeUrls()) {
+            url = context.urlSanitizer().sanitizeLinkUrl(url);
+            attrs.put("rel", "nofollow");
+        }
+
+        url = context.encodeUrl(url);
         attrs.put("href", url);
         if (link.getTitle() != null) {
             attrs.put("title", link.getTitle());
@@ -171,14 +178,18 @@ public void visit(OrderedList orderedList) {
 
     @Override
     public void visit(Image image) {
-        String url = context.encodeUrl(image.getDestination());
+        String url = image.getDestination();
 
         AltTextVisitor altTextVisitor = new AltTextVisitor();
         image.accept(altTextVisitor);
         String altText = altTextVisitor.getAltText();
 
         Map<String, String> attrs = new LinkedHashMap<>();
-        attrs.put("src", url);
+        if (context.shouldSanitizeUrls()) {
+            url = context.urlSanitizer().sanitizeImageUrl(url);
+        }
+
+        attrs.put("src", context.encodeUrl(url));
         attrs.put("alt", altText);
         if (image.getTitle() != null) {
             attrs.put("title", image.getTitle());
diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/DefaultUrlSanitizer.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/DefaultUrlSanitizer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6cc96c5e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/DefaultUrlSanitizer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+package org.commonmark.renderer.html;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * Allows http, https and mailto protocols for url.
+ * Also allows protocol relative urls, and relative urls.
+ * Implementation based on https://github.com/OWASP/java-html-sanitizer/blob/f07e44b034a45d94d6fd010279073c38b6933072/src/main/java/org/owasp/html/FilterUrlByProtocolAttributePolicy.java
+ */
+public class DefaultUrlSanitizer implements UrlSanitizer {
+    private Set<String> protocols;
+
+    public DefaultUrlSanitizer() {
+        this(Arrays.asList("http", "https", "mailto"));
+    }
+
+    public DefaultUrlSanitizer(Collection<String> protocols) {
+        this.protocols = new HashSet<>(protocols);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String sanitizeLinkUrl(String url) {
+        url = stripHtmlSpaces(url);
+        protocol_loop:
+        for (int i = 0, n = url.length(); i < n; ++i) {
+            switch (url.charAt(i)) {
+                case '/':
+                case '#':
+                case '?':  // No protocol.
+                    break protocol_loop;
+                case ':':
+                    String protocol = url.substring(0, i).toLowerCase();
+                    if (!protocols.contains(protocol)) {
+                        return "";
+                    }
+                    break protocol_loop;
+            }
+        }
+        return url;
+    }
+
+
+    @Override
+    public String sanitizeImageUrl(String url) {
+        return sanitizeLinkUrl(url);
+    }
+
+    private String stripHtmlSpaces(String s) {
+        int i = 0, n = s.length();
+        for (; n > i; --n) {
+            if (!isHtmlSpace(s.charAt(n - 1))) {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        for (; i < n; ++i) {
+            if (!isHtmlSpace(s.charAt(i))) {
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (i == 0 && n == s.length()) {
+            return s;
+        }
+        return s.substring(i, n);
+    }
+
+    private boolean isHtmlSpace(int ch) {
+        switch (ch) {
+            case ' ':
+            case '\t':
+            case '\n':
+            case '\u000c':
+            case '\r':
+                return true;
+            default:
+                return false;
+
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlNodeRendererContext.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlNodeRendererContext.java
index fd077a277..653f189be 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlNodeRendererContext.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlNodeRendererContext.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package org.commonmark.renderer.html;
 
+import org.commonmark.node.Link;
+import org.commonmark.node.Image;
 import org.commonmark.node.Node;
 
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -44,4 +46,16 @@ public interface HtmlNodeRendererContext {
      * @return whether HTML blocks and tags should be escaped or not
      */
     boolean shouldEscapeHtml();
+
+    /**
+     *
+     * @return true if the {@link UrlSanitizer} should be used.
+     */
+    boolean shouldSanitizeUrls();
+
+    /**
+     *
+     * @return Sanitizer to use for securing {@link Link} href and {@link Image} src if sanitizeUrls is true.
+     */
+    UrlSanitizer urlSanitizer();
 }
diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlRenderer.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlRenderer.java
index fac3b3ba2..e410ae32d 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlRenderer.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/HtmlRenderer.java
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 import org.commonmark.internal.util.Escaping;
 import org.commonmark.node.HtmlBlock;
 import org.commonmark.node.HtmlInline;
+import org.commonmark.node.Link;
+import org.commonmark.node.Image;
 import org.commonmark.node.Node;
 import org.commonmark.renderer.NodeRenderer;
 import org.commonmark.renderer.Renderer;
@@ -27,6 +29,8 @@ public class HtmlRenderer implements Renderer {
 
     private final String softbreak;
     private final boolean escapeHtml;
+    private final boolean sanitizeUrls;
+    private final UrlSanitizer urlSanitizer;
     private final boolean percentEncodeUrls;
     private final List<AttributeProviderFactory> attributeProviderFactories;
     private final List<HtmlNodeRendererFactory> nodeRendererFactories;
@@ -34,7 +38,9 @@ public class HtmlRenderer implements Renderer {
     private HtmlRenderer(Builder builder) {
         this.softbreak = builder.softbreak;
         this.escapeHtml = builder.escapeHtml;
+        this.sanitizeUrls = builder.sanitizeUrls;
         this.percentEncodeUrls = builder.percentEncodeUrls;
+        this.urlSanitizer = builder.urlSanitizer;
         this.attributeProviderFactories = new ArrayList<>(builder.attributeProviderFactories);
 
         this.nodeRendererFactories = new ArrayList<>(builder.nodeRendererFactories.size() + 1);
@@ -83,6 +89,8 @@ public static class Builder {
 
         private String softbreak = "\n";
         private boolean escapeHtml = false;
+        private boolean sanitizeUrls = false;
+        private UrlSanitizer urlSanitizer = new DefaultUrlSanitizer();
         private boolean percentEncodeUrls = false;
         private List<AttributeProviderFactory> attributeProviderFactories = new ArrayList<>();
         private List<HtmlNodeRendererFactory> nodeRendererFactories = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -124,6 +132,30 @@ public Builder escapeHtml(boolean escapeHtml) {
             return this;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Whether {@link Image} src and {@link Link} href should be sanitized, defaults to {@code false}.
+         * <p>
+         *
+         * @param sanitizeUrls true for sanitization, false for preserving raw attribute
+         * @return {@code this}
+         */
+        public Builder sanitizeUrls(boolean sanitizeUrls) {
+            this.sanitizeUrls = sanitizeUrls;
+            return this;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * {@link UrlSanitizer} used to filter URL's if sanitizeUrls is true.
+         * <p>
+         *
+         * @param urlSanitizer Filterer used to filter {@link Image} src and {@link Link}.
+         * @return {@code this}
+         */
+        public Builder urlSanitizer(UrlSanitizer urlSanitizer) {
+            this.urlSanitizer = urlSanitizer;
+            return this;
+        }
+
         /**
          * Whether URLs of link or images should be percent-encoded, defaults to {@code false}.
          * <p>
@@ -227,6 +259,16 @@ public boolean shouldEscapeHtml() {
             return escapeHtml;
         }
 
+        @Override
+        public boolean shouldSanitizeUrls() {
+            return sanitizeUrls;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public UrlSanitizer urlSanitizer() {
+            return urlSanitizer;
+        }
+
         @Override
         public String encodeUrl(String url) {
             if (percentEncodeUrls) {
diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/UrlSanitizer.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/UrlSanitizer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ad93e41d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/renderer/html/UrlSanitizer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package org.commonmark.renderer.html;
+
+import org.commonmark.node.Image;
+import org.commonmark.node.Link;
+
+/**
+ * Sanitizes urls for img and a elements by whitelisting protocols.
+ * This is intended to prevent XSS payloads like [Click this totally safe url](javascript:document.xss=true;)
+ *
+ * Implementation based on https://github.com/OWASP/java-html-sanitizer/blob/f07e44b034a45d94d6fd010279073c38b6933072/src/main/java/org/owasp/html/FilterUrlByProtocolAttributePolicy.java
+ */
+public interface UrlSanitizer {
+    /**
+     * Sanitize a url for use in the href attribute of a {@link Link}.
+     * @param url Link to sanitize
+     * @return Sanitized link
+     */
+    public String sanitizeLinkUrl(String url);
+
+    /**
+     * Sanitize a url for use in the src attribute of a {@link Image}.
+     * @param url Link to sanitize
+     * @return Sanitized link {@link Image}
+     */
+    public String sanitizeImageUrl(String url);
+}
diff --git a/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/HtmlRendererTest.java b/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/HtmlRendererTest.java
index 30cbf24f3..04b493cba 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/HtmlRendererTest.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/HtmlRendererTest.java
@@ -59,6 +59,39 @@ public void attributeEscaping() {
         assertEquals("<p><a href=\"&amp;colon;\"></a></p>\n", defaultRenderer().render(paragraph));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void rawUrlsShouldNotFilterDangerousProtocols() {
+        Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph();
+        Link link = new Link();
+        link.setDestination("javascript:alert(5);");
+        paragraph.appendChild(link);
+        assertEquals("<p><a href=\"javascript:alert(5);\"></a></p>\n", rawUrlsRenderer().render(paragraph));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void sanitizedUrlsShouldSetRelNoFollow() {
+        Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph();
+        Link link = new Link();
+        link.setDestination("/exampleUrl");
+        paragraph.appendChild(link);
+        assertEquals("<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"/exampleUrl\"></a></p>\n", sanitizeUrlsRenderer().render(paragraph));
+
+        paragraph = new Paragraph();
+        link = new Link();
+        link.setDestination("https://google.com");
+        paragraph.appendChild(link);
+        assertEquals("<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https://google.com\"></a></p>\n", sanitizeUrlsRenderer().render(paragraph));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void sanitizedUrlsShouldFilterDangerousProtocols() {
+        Paragraph paragraph = new Paragraph();
+        Link link = new Link();
+        link.setDestination("javascript:alert(5);");
+        paragraph.appendChild(link);
+        assertEquals("<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"\"></a></p>\n", sanitizeUrlsRenderer().render(paragraph));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void percentEncodeUrlDisabled() {
         assertEquals("<p><a href=\"foo&amp;bar\">a</a></p>\n", defaultRenderer().render(parse("[a](foo&amp;bar)")));
@@ -267,6 +300,14 @@ private static HtmlRenderer htmlAllowingRenderer() {
         return HtmlRenderer.builder().escapeHtml(false).build();
     }
 
+    private static HtmlRenderer sanitizeUrlsRenderer() {
+        return HtmlRenderer.builder().sanitizeUrls(true).urlSanitizer(new DefaultUrlSanitizer()).build();
+    }
+
+    private static HtmlRenderer rawUrlsRenderer() {
+        return HtmlRenderer.builder().sanitizeUrls(false).build();
+    }
+
     private static HtmlRenderer htmlEscapingRenderer() {
         return HtmlRenderer.builder().escapeHtml(true).build();
     }