diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 48a1dd0..2cca760 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -157,6 +157,11 @@ private and reserved ranges — RFC 1918, loopback, CGNAT, link-local and
 the rest — are refused, which stops a target from being used to make
 webhooker probe the network it sits in.
 
+Besides the private and reserved ranges, the default blocklist refuses
+public cloud metadata addresses: currently only `168.63.129.16`, Azure's
+WireServer, which serves an Azure VM its credentials. Because it is a
+public address, listing it in `ALLOWED_EGRESS_CIDRS` reopens it.
+
 That default is also inconvenient for the thing webhooker is mostly
 for: taking a public webhook and forwarding it to something on your own
 network. A container on the same Docker network, a box on `10.x`, a
@@ -242,7 +247,8 @@ Two things this setting cannot do:
   encodings, which the default blocklist does not match. A publicly
   routable metadata address is not listed here, because nothing on this
   list can be reopened and blocking one that way would leave you no
-  escape hatch at all.
+  escape hatch at all; Azure's `168.63.129.16` is refused by the default
+  blocklist instead, as described above.
 
   This list is not exhaustive of every cloud's metadata address — if
   yours is not here, do not allowlist the block that contains it.
diff --git a/internal/delivery/ssrf.go b/internal/delivery/ssrf.go
index a718e6a..38f3fe3 100644
--- a/internal/delivery/ssrf.go
+++ b/internal/delivery/ssrf.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ var (
 		"hostname resolved to no IP addresses",
 	)
 	errBlockedIP = errors.New(
-		"blocked private/reserved IP range",
+		"blocked private, reserved or cloud metadata address",
 	)
 	errBlockedMetadata = errors.New(
 		"blocked link-local or cloud instance metadata " +
@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ var (
 	)
 )
 
-// blockedNetworks contains all private/reserved IP ranges
-// that should be blocked to prevent SSRF attacks. An operator
-// can permit specific blocks out of this set with
+// blockedNetworks is the default blocklist: the private and
+// reserved IP ranges, plus the public cloud metadata addresses,
+// that are blocked to prevent SSRF attacks. An operator can
+// permit specific blocks out of this set with
 // ALLOWED_EGRESS_CIDRS; see Guard.
 //
 //nolint:gochecknoglobals // package-level network list is appropriate here
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ func init() {
 		"::1/128",
 		"fc00::/7",
 		"fe80::/10",
+		// Azure WireServer, a public address that serves VM credentials.
+		"168.63.129.16/32",
 	})
 
 	// Every entry is named. The set must not grow or shrink
@@ -216,8 +219,8 @@ func matchesAny(networks []*net.IPNet, ip net.IP) bool {
 }
 
 // isBlockedIP checks whether an IP address falls within
-// any blocked private/reserved network range, before any
-// operator allowlist is considered.
+// the default blocklist, before any operator allowlist is
+// considered.
 func isBlockedIP(ip net.IP) bool {
 	return matchesAny(blockedNetworks, ip)
 }
diff --git a/internal/delivery/ssrf_allowlist_test.go b/internal/delivery/ssrf_allowlist_test.go
index 74f0f35..314865c 100644
--- a/internal/delivery/ssrf_allowlist_test.go
+++ b/internal/delivery/ssrf_allowlist_test.go
@@ -390,6 +390,41 @@ func TestGuardAllowlist_PublicUnaffected(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestGuardAllowlist_AzureWireServerReopenable covers Azure's
+// WireServer, a public address that serves VM credentials. The
+// default guard refuses it, but because it is public it sits in
+// the default blocklist rather than the unconditional set, so an
+// operator who lists it can reach it.
+func TestGuardAllowlist_AzureWireServerReopenable(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	const wireServerIP = "168.63.129.16"
+
+	target := "http://" + wireServerIP + "/?comp=versions"
+
+	defaultGuard := delivery.NewTestGuard()
+
+	err := defaultGuard.ValidateTargetURL(context.Background(), target)
+	require.Error(t, err,
+		"WireServer must be refused with no allowlist set",
+	)
+	assert.NotContains(t, err.Error(), metadataRefusalClause,
+		"WireServer must be refused by the default blocklist, "+
+			"which an allowlist can override",
+	)
+
+	assertDialRefused(t, defaultGuard, target)
+
+	listed := delivery.NewTestGuard(
+		netip.MustParsePrefix(wireServerIP + "/32"),
+	)
+
+	assert.NoError(t,
+		listed.ValidateTargetURL(context.Background(), target),
+		"an operator who lists WireServer must be able to reach it",
+	)
+}
+
 // TestGuardCheckIP_BothPathsShareOneDecision asserts that the
 // validator and the dialer are not two policies that happen to
 // agree: both are defined in terms of checkIP, so the exported