diff --git a/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/SessionUtilExternalBrowser.java b/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/SessionUtilExternalBrowser.java
index 46a27b8aa..b18d1ebcb 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/SessionUtilExternalBrowser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/SessionUtilExternalBrowser.java
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ public HttpPost build(URI uri) {
     public void openBrowser(String ssoUrl) throws SFException {
       try {
         // start web browser
+        if (!URLUtil.isValidURL(ssoUrl)) {
+          throw new SFException(
+              ErrorCode.INVALID_CONNECTION_URL, "Invalid SSOUrl found - " + ssoUrl);
+        }
         if (java.awt.Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) {
           URI uri = new URI(ssoUrl);
           java.awt.Desktop.getDesktop().browse(uri);
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtil.java b/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cd4129e4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2012-2023 Snowflake Computing Inc. All rights reserved.
+ */
+package net.snowflake.client.core;
+
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
+import java.net.URISyntaxException;
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLEncoder;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import java.util.regex.PatternSyntaxException;
+import javax.annotation.Nullable;
+import net.snowflake.client.log.SFLogger;
+import net.snowflake.client.log.SFLoggerFactory;
+
+public class URLUtil {
+
+  static final SFLogger logger = SFLoggerFactory.getLogger(URLUtil.class);
+  static final String validURLPattern =
+      "^http(s?)\\:\\/\\/[0-9a-zA-Z]([-.\\w]*[0-9a-zA-Z@:])*(:(0-9)*)*(\\/?)([a-zA-Z0-9\\-\\.\\?\\,\\&\\(\\)\\/\\\\\\+&%\\$#_=@]*)?$";
+  static final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(validURLPattern);
+
+  public static boolean isValidURL(String url) {
+    try {
+      Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(url);
+      return matcher.find();
+    } catch (PatternSyntaxException pex) {
+      logger.debug("The URL REGEX is invalid. Falling back to basic sanity test");
+      try {
+        new URL(url).toURI();
+        return true;
+      } catch (MalformedURLException mex) {
+        logger.debug("The URL " + url + ", is invalid");
+        return false;
+      } catch (URISyntaxException uex) {
+        logger.debug("The URL " + url + ", is invalid");
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Nullable
+  public static String urlEncode(String target) throws UnsupportedEncodingException {
+    String encodedTarget;
+    try {
+      encodedTarget = URLEncoder.encode(target, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.toString());
+    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uex) {
+      logger.debug("The string to be encoded- " + target + ", is invalid");
+      return null;
+    }
+    return encodedTarget;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtilTest.java b/src/test/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtilTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2ef78691
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/net/snowflake/client/core/URLUtilTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2012-2023 Snowflake Computing Inc. All rights reserved.
+ */
+package net.snowflake.client.core;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class URLUtilTest {
+
+  @Test
+  public void testValidURL() throws Exception {
+    assertTrue(URLUtil.isValidURL("https://ssoTestURL.okta.com"));
+    assertTrue(URLUtil.isValidURL("https://ssoTestURL.okta.com:8080"));
+    assertTrue(URLUtil.isValidURL("https://ssoTestURL.okta.com/testpathvalue"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testInvalidURL() throws Exception {
+    assertFalse(URLUtil.isValidURL("-a Calculator"));
+    assertFalse(URLUtil.isValidURL("This is random text"));
+    assertFalse(URLUtil.isValidURL("file://TestForFile"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testEncodeURL() throws Exception {
+    assertEquals(URLUtil.urlEncode("Hello @World"), "Hello+%40World");
+    assertEquals(URLUtil.urlEncode("Test//String"), "Test%2F%2FString");
+  }
+}