diff --git a/fastchat/utils.py b/fastchat/utils.py
index d3531928f..7f809ffa5 100644
--- a/fastchat/utils.py
+++ b/fastchat/utils.py
@@ -401,13 +401,17 @@ def load_image(image_file):
         timeout = int(os.getenv("REQUEST_TIMEOUT", "3"))
         response = requests.get(image_file, timeout=timeout)
         image = Image.open(BytesIO(response.content))
-    elif image_file.lower().endswith(("png", "jpg", "jpeg", "webp", "gif")):
-        image = Image.open(image_file)
     elif image_file.startswith("data:"):
-        image_file = image_file.split(",")[1]
-        image = Image.open(BytesIO(base64.b64decode(image_file)))
+        image_file = image_file.split(",", 1)[1]
+        image = Image.open(BytesIO(base64.b64decode(image_file, validate=True)))
     else:
-        image = Image.open(BytesIO(base64.b64decode(image_file)))
+        # Reject filesystem paths (CWE-22); callers pass data URLs or raw base64.
+        try:
+            image = Image.open(BytesIO(base64.b64decode(image_file, validate=True)))
+        except Exception as e:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "load_image expects http(s), data URI, or base64; local paths are not allowed"
+            ) from e
 
     return image
 
diff --git a/tests/test_load_image_no_local_path.py b/tests/test_load_image_no_local_path.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50d638f2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_load_image_no_local_path.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""
+python3 -m unittest tests.test_load_image_no_local_path
+"""
+
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastchat.utils import load_image
+
+
+class LoadImageNoLocalPathTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_rejects_local_image_path(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp:
+            path = Path(tmp) / "x.png"
+            # minimal 1x1 PNG
+            path.write_bytes(
+                bytes.fromhex(
+                    "89504e470d0a1a0a0000000d49484452000000010000000108060000001f15c489"
+                    "0000000a49444154789c63000100000500010d0a2db40000000049454e44ae426082"
+                )
+            )
+            with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+                load_image(str(path))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()