Remote Resources and fileOptions
July 22, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
Back to root overview: README.md
By default tc-lib-pdf does not fetch any remote URLs. Images, fonts, and SVG files referenced by HTTP or HTTPS are blocked unless you explicitly allow the originating hosts. Local file reads are split between internal library IO and markup-originated resource loads, with separate allowlists.
Remote access is controlled by the optional $fileOptions array passed as the last argument to the Tcpdf constructor (and forwarded to initClassObjects()).
Allowing Remote Hosts
$pdf = new \Com\Tecnick\Pdf\Tcpdf(
unit: 'mm',
fileOptions: [
'allowedHosts' => ['cdn.example.com', 'assets.myapp.io'],
],
);
Only the listed host names are permitted. Any attempt to load a resource from an unlisted host is silently blocked. Supply an explicit allowlist rather than a wildcard to limit the attack surface when user-supplied URLs might reach this code path.
Restricting Local Paths
allowedPaths controls which local path prefixes may be read by the shared file helper for internal library IO, such as fonts, and other explicit file operations. If you omit it, the library computes a default set of trusted roots that covers the system temp directory, the K_PATH_FONTS directory when that constant is defined, the tc-lib-pdf package root, and, when the package is installed as a Composer dependency, the vendor/tecnickcom directory holding the sibling tecnickcom packages. Paths outside these roots, for example project asset directories, are rejected until you list them here. The helper that returns these defaults is Com\\Tecnick\\Pdf\\Base::defaultFileAllowedPaths().
markupAllowedPaths controls which local path prefixes may be read when resources are referenced by rendered HTML, CSS, or SVG markup. If you omit it, the library reuses an explicit allowedPaths value when one is provided; otherwise it computes a stricter default that excludes the system temp directory. The helper that returns those stricter defaults is Com\\Tecnick\\Pdf\\Base::defaultMarkupAllowedPaths().
Windows absolute paths with drive letters are supported as long as they are absolute and match the trusted root after path normalization. You can provide them in native form (C:\\...) or normalized form (C:/...), but using the same canonical format for both the allowlist and the resource path is safest.
$pdf = new \Com\Tecnick\Pdf\Tcpdf(
unit: 'mm',
fileOptions: [
'allowedPaths' => [
(string) realpath(sys_get_temp_dir()),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../storage/pdf-assets'),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/tecnickcom/tc-lib-pdf-font/target/fonts'),
],
'markupAllowedPaths' => [
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../storage/pdf-assets'),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/tecnickcom/tc-lib-pdf-font/target/fonts'),
],
],
);
Supplying allowedPaths replaces the internal-file defaults instead of merging with them. Include every local directory the PDF run needs for trusted internal operations, such as image fixtures, custom font directories, or cache-backed assets.
Supplying markupAllowedPaths replaces the stricter markup defaults instead of merging with them. Include only directories that should be reachable from rendered markup.
All fileOptions Keys
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
allowedHosts | string[] | [] (none) | Host names the library may fetch over HTTP/HTTPS. Remote loading is disabled when this list is empty. |
allowedPaths | string[] | Computed internal trusted roots | Local path prefixes permitted for internal file reads. Passing this key replaces the defaults, so include all required temp/cache/font directories. |
markupAllowedPaths | string[] | Explicit allowedPaths value, else stricter computed roots | Local path prefixes permitted for file reads triggered by rendered HTML, CSS, or SVG markup. Passing this key replaces the markup defaults. |
maxRemoteSize | int | 52428800 (50 MiB) | Maximum bytes accepted for a single remote download. Requests exceeding this limit are aborted. |
curlopts | array<int, bool|int|string> | [] | Per-request cURL options (keyed by CURLOPT_* constants) merged on top of the built-in defaults. |
defaultCurlOpts | array<int, bool|int|string> | null | Replaces the built-in default cURL option set entirely. Omit this key to keep the safe defaults. |
fixedCurlOpts | array<int, bool|int|string> | null | cURL options that are always enforced and cannot be overridden by curlopts - useful for pinning TLS settings in locked-down environments. |
Example: Pinning TLS and Setting a Short Timeout
$pdf = new \Com\Tecnick\Pdf\Tcpdf(
unit: 'mm',
fileOptions: [
'allowedHosts' => ['cdn.example.com'],
'allowedPaths' => [
(string) realpath(sys_get_temp_dir()),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../storage/pdf-assets'),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/tecnickcom/tc-lib-pdf-font/target/fonts'),
],
'markupAllowedPaths' => [
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../storage/pdf-assets'),
(string) realpath(__DIR__ . '/../vendor/tecnickcom/tc-lib-pdf-font/target/fonts'),
],
'maxRemoteSize' => 10 * 1024 * 1024, // 10 MiB
'curlopts' => [
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 10,
CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 5,
],
'fixedCurlOpts' => [
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER => true,
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST => 2,
],
],
);