diff --git a/src/soup_cli/eval/gate.py b/src/soup_cli/eval/gate.py
index 4dedbce..a4e338f 100644
--- a/src/soup_cli/eval/gate.py
+++ b/src/soup_cli/eval/gate.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import json
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Callable, Literal, Optional
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
 
 import yaml
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, field_validator
@@ -81,13 +82,18 @@ class GateTask(BaseModel):
         if value is None:
             return None
         # Allowlist of schemes — SSRF hardening consistent with the project.
-        allowed = ("ollama://", "https://", "http://localhost", "http://127.0.0.1")
-        if not value.startswith(allowed):
-            raise ValueError(
-                f"judge_model URL '{value}' uses disallowed scheme - "
-                "use ollama://, https://, or http://localhost"
-            )
-        return value
+        parsed = urlparse(value)
+
+        if parsed.scheme in ("ollama","https"):
+            return value
+
+        if (parsed.scheme == "http" and parsed.hostname in {"localhost", "127.0.0.1"}):
+            return value
+
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"judge_model URL '{value}' uses disallowed scheme - "
+            "use ollama://, https://, or http://localhost"
+        )
 
 
 class EvalSuite(BaseModel):
@@ -168,31 +174,37 @@ def _parse_judge_url(judge_model: str) -> tuple[str, str, Optional[str]]:
       ``http://localhost:8000/Qwen2.5`` -> ("server", "Qwen2.5", "http://localhost:8000")
       ``https://api.openai.com/gpt-4o-mini`` -> ("openai", "gpt-4o-mini", "https://api.openai.com")
     """
-    if judge_model.startswith("ollama://"):
-        return ("ollama", judge_model[len("ollama://"):], None)
-    # http(s):// — last path segment is the model id; the rest is api_base.
-    # Defence-in-depth: GateTask._valid_judge_url already restricts the
-    # scheme to ollama:// / https:// / http://localhost / http://127.0.0.1.
-    # We match prefixes in the same order here. We do NOT include a bare
-    # ``http://`` catch-all — if validation is ever bypassed and a non-loopback
-    # http URL reaches us, the trailing ``raise ValueError`` will fire.
-    for prefix, default_provider in (
-        ("http://localhost", "server"),
-        ("http://127.0.0.1", "server"),
-        ("https://", "openai"),
-    ):
-        if judge_model.startswith(prefix):
-            try:
-                base, model = judge_model.rsplit("/", 1)
-            except ValueError as exc:
-                raise ValueError(
-                    f"judge_model '{judge_model}' missing model id"
-                ) from exc
-            if not model:
-                raise ValueError(f"judge_model '{judge_model}' missing model id")
-            return (default_provider, model, base)
-    raise ValueError(f"judge_model '{judge_model}' uses unsupported scheme")
 
+    parsed = urlparse(judge_model)
+
+    if parsed.scheme == "ollama":
+        return ("ollama", judge_model[len("ollama://"):], None)
+
+    if parsed.scheme == "https":
+        default_provider = "openai"
+    elif (
+        parsed.scheme == "http"
+        and parsed.hostname in ("localhost", "127.0.0.1")
+    ):
+        default_provider = "server"
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"judge_model '{judge_model}' uses unsupported scheme"
+        )
+
+    try:
+        base, model = judge_model.rsplit("/", 1)
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"judge_model '{judge_model}' missing model id"
+        ) from exc
+
+    if not model:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"judge_model '{judge_model}' missing model id"
+        )
+
+    return (default_provider, model, base)
 
 def _run_judge_task(
     task: GateTask, generate_fn: Callable[[str], str],
diff --git a/tests/test_eval_gate.py b/tests/test_eval_gate.py
index a16e45f..e2560d2 100644
--- a/tests/test_eval_gate.py
+++ b/tests/test_eval_gate.py
@@ -498,3 +498,15 @@ class TestTrainGateFlag:
         cleaned = re.sub(r"\x1b\[[0-9;]*m", "", result.output)
         assert "--gate" in cleaned
         assert "eval-gated" in cleaned
+class TestJudgeModelValidation:
+    def test_rejects_localhost_prefix_bypass(self):
+        from soup_cli.eval.gate import GateTask
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="judge_model"):
+            GateTask(
+                type="judge",
+                name="judge",
+                threshold=0.5,
+                prompts="prompts.jsonl",
+                judge_model="http://localhost.attacker.com/model",
+            )
diff --git a/tests/test_part_a_wave1.py b/tests/test_part_a_wave1.py
index 7f72150..d81a2bf 100644
--- a/tests/test_part_a_wave1.py
+++ b/tests/test_part_a_wave1.py
@@ -53,7 +53,14 @@ class TestParseJudgeURL:
         assert provider == "server"
         assert model == "Qwen2.5"
         assert base == "http://localhost:8000"
+    def test_rejects_localhost_prefix_bypass(self):
+        from soup_cli.eval.gate import _parse_judge_url
 
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="unsupported scheme"):
+            _parse_judge_url("http://localhost.attacker.com/model")
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="unsupported scheme"):
+            _parse_judge_url("http://127.0.0.1.evil/model")
     def test_rejects_unsupported_scheme(self):
         from soup_cli.eval.gate import _parse_judge_url