diff --git a/i18n/src/main/resources/openfire_i18n.properties b/i18n/src/main/resources/openfire_i18n.properties
index 7e5a7f34ac..caa14d7464 100644
--- a/i18n/src/main/resources/openfire_i18n.properties
+++ b/i18n/src/main/resources/openfire_i18n.properties
@@ -1626,6 +1626,7 @@ system_property.xmpp.muc.muclumbus.v1-0.enabled=Determine is the multi-user chat
 system_property.ldap.pagedResultsSize=The maximum number of records to retrieve from LDAP in a single page. \
    The default value of -1 means rely on the paging of the LDAP server itself. \
    Note that if using ActiveDirectory, this should not be left at the default, and should not be set to more than the value of the ActiveDirectory MaxPageSize; 1,000 by default.
+plugins.servlet.allowLocalFileReading=Determines if the plugin servlets can be used to access files outside of Openfire's home directory.
 system_property.cert.storewatcher.enabled=Automatically reloads certificate stores when they're modified on disk.
 
 # Server properties Page
diff --git a/xmppserver/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/openfire/container/PluginServlet.java b/xmppserver/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/openfire/container/PluginServlet.java
index a723a0540e..c9f90c8656 100644
--- a/xmppserver/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/openfire/container/PluginServlet.java
+++ b/xmppserver/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/openfire/container/PluginServlet.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.net.URL;
-import java.net.URLConnection;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.HashSet;
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 import org.jivesoftware.admin.PluginFilter;
 import org.jivesoftware.util.JiveGlobals;
 import org.jivesoftware.util.StringUtils;
+import org.jivesoftware.util.SystemProperty;
 import org.jivesoftware.util.WebXmlUtils;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -77,6 +78,12 @@ public class PluginServlet extends HttpServlet {
 
     private static final Logger Log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PluginServlet.class);
 
+    public static final SystemProperty<Boolean> ALLOW_LOCAL_FILE_READING = SystemProperty.Builder.ofType( Boolean.class )
+        .setKey( "plugins.servlet.allowLocalFileReading" )
+        .setDynamic( true )
+        .setDefaultValue( false )
+        .build();
+
     private static Map<String, GenericServlet> servlets;  // mapped using lowercase path (OF-1105)
     private static PluginManager pluginManager;
     private static ServletConfig servletConfig;
@@ -480,7 +487,21 @@ private void handleOtherRequest(String pathInfo, HttpServletResponse response) t
 
         if (environment != null) {
             file = new File(environment.getWebRoot(), contextPath);
+        } else {
+            if ( !ALLOW_LOCAL_FILE_READING.getValue() ) {
+                // If _not_ in a DEV environment, ensure that the file that's being served is a
+                // file that is part of Openfire. This guards against accessing files from the
+                // operating system, or other files that shouldn't be accessible via the web (OF-1886).
+                final Path absoluteHome = new File( JiveGlobals.getHomeDirectory() ).toPath().normalize().toAbsolutePath();
+                final Path absoluteLookup = file.toPath().normalize().toAbsolutePath();
+                if ( !absoluteLookup.startsWith( absoluteHome ) )
+                {
+                    response.setStatus( HttpServletResponse.SC_FORBIDDEN );
+                    return;
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if (!file.exists()) {
             response.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_NOT_FOUND);
             return;