diff --git a/lib/escape.c b/lib/escape.c
index b0922bc936840aa45d6ef87f5920e978c716436b..0dd5a1d0a687194492b2c38b54007de3e0775530 100644
--- a/lib/escape.c
+++ b/lib/escape.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "urldata.h"
 #include "warnless.h"
 #include "non-ascii.h"
+#include "escape.h"
 
 #define _MPRINTF_REPLACE /* use our functions only */
 #include <curl/mprintf.h>
@@ -84,7 +85,7 @@ char *curl_easy_escape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int inlength)
   char *testing_ptr = NULL;
   unsigned char in; /* we need to treat the characters unsigned */
   size_t newlen = alloc;
-  int strindex=0;
+  size_t strindex=0;
   size_t length;
   CURLcode res;
 
@@ -132,23 +133,29 @@ char *curl_easy_escape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int inlength)
 }
 
 /*
- * Unescapes the given URL escaped string of given length. Returns a
- * pointer to a malloced string with length given in *olen.
- * If length == 0, the length is assumed to be strlen(string).
- * If olen == NULL, no output length is stored.
+ * Curl_urldecode() URL decodes the given string.
+ *
+ * Optionally detects control characters (byte codes lower than 32) in the
+ * data and rejects such data.
+ *
+ * Returns a pointer to a malloced string in *ostring with length given in
+ * *olen. If length == 0, the length is assumed to be strlen(string).
+ *
  */
-char *curl_easy_unescape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int length,
-                         int *olen)
+CURLcode Curl_urldecode(struct SessionHandle *data,
+                        const char *string, size_t length,
+                        char **ostring, size_t *olen,
+                        bool reject_ctrl)
 {
-  int alloc = (length?length:(int)strlen(string))+1;
+  size_t alloc = (length?length:strlen(string))+1;
   char *ns = malloc(alloc);
   unsigned char in;
-  int strindex=0;
+  size_t strindex=0;
   unsigned long hex;
   CURLcode res;
 
   if(!ns)
-    return NULL;
+    return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
 
   while(--alloc > 0) {
     in = *string;
@@ -164,16 +171,20 @@ char *curl_easy_unescape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int length,
 
       in = curlx_ultouc(hex); /* this long is never bigger than 255 anyway */
 
-      res = Curl_convert_from_network(handle, &in, 1);
+      res = Curl_convert_from_network(data, &in, 1);
       if(res) {
         /* Curl_convert_from_network calls failf if unsuccessful */
         free(ns);
-        return NULL;
+        return res;
       }
 
       string+=2;
       alloc-=2;
     }
+    if(reject_ctrl && (in < 0x20)) {
+      free(ns);
+      return CURLE_URL_MALFORMAT;
+    }
 
     ns[strindex++] = in;
     string++;
@@ -183,7 +194,33 @@ char *curl_easy_unescape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int length,
   if(olen)
     /* store output size */
     *olen = strindex;
-  return ns;
+
+  if(ostring)
+    /* store output string */
+    *ostring = ns;
+
+  return CURLE_OK;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Unescapes the given URL escaped string of given length. Returns a
+ * pointer to a malloced string with length given in *olen.
+ * If length == 0, the length is assumed to be strlen(string).
+ * If olen == NULL, no output length is stored.
+ */
+char *curl_easy_unescape(CURL *handle, const char *string, int length,
+                         int *olen)
+{
+  char *str = NULL;
+  size_t inputlen = length;
+  size_t outputlen;
+  CURLcode res = Curl_urldecode(handle, string, inputlen, &str, &outputlen,
+                                FALSE);
+  if(res)
+    return NULL;
+  if(olen)
+    *olen = curlx_uztosi(outputlen);
+  return str;
 }
 
 /* For operating systems/environments that use different malloc/free
diff --git a/lib/escape.h b/lib/escape.h
index 04b06a973bbc115c480cb3fcef4a8984b74ad0cd..4c7f84133b6c5677586fa1258c2a09d2ba8fef20 100644
--- a/lib/escape.h
+++ b/lib/escape.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-#ifndef __ESCAPE_H
-#define __ESCAPE_H
+#ifndef HEADER_CURL_ESCAPE_H
+#define HEADER_CURL_ESCAPE_H
 
 /***************************************************************************
  *                                  _   _ ____  _
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  *                            | (__| |_| |  _ <| |___
  *                             \___|\___/|_| \_\_____|
  *
- * Copyright (C) 1998 - 2006, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
+ * Copyright (C) 1998 - 2011, Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
  *
  * This software is licensed as described in the file COPYING, which
  * you should have received as part of this distribution. The terms
@@ -25,5 +25,9 @@
 /* Escape and unescape URL encoding in strings. The functions return a new
  * allocated string or NULL if an error occurred.  */
 
+CURLcode Curl_urldecode(struct SessionHandle *data,
+                        const char *string, size_t length,
+                        char **ostring, size_t *olen,
+                        bool reject_crlf);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/imap.c b/lib/imap.c
index c39664d86d775abf99f3de369c992d8b1f2ff339..c6701417d0449bdf6280cb6f886e397b36198b19 100644
--- a/lib/imap.c
+++ b/lib/imap.c
@@ -953,17 +953,12 @@ static CURLcode imap_parse_url_path(struct connectdata *conn)
   struct imap_conn *imapc = &conn->proto.imapc;
   struct SessionHandle *data = conn->data;
   const char *path = data->state.path;
-  int len;
 
   if(!*path)
     path = "INBOX";
 
   /* url decode the path and use this mailbox */
-  imapc->mailbox = curl_easy_unescape(data, path, 0, &len);
-  if(!imapc->mailbox)
-    return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
-
-  return CURLE_OK;
+  return Curl_urldecode(data, path, 0, &imapc->mailbox, NULL, TRUE);
 }
 
 /* call this when the DO phase has completed */
diff --git a/lib/pop3.c b/lib/pop3.c
index b7781109b3816d2be7b0193d2417fe6f5c8378c0..cc360b8b95e1b8df55d17180f892945578a10c6a 100644
--- a/lib/pop3.c
+++ b/lib/pop3.c
@@ -914,11 +914,7 @@ static CURLcode pop3_parse_url_path(struct connectdata *conn)
   const char *path = data->state.path;
 
   /* url decode the path and use this mailbox */
-  pop3c->mailbox = curl_easy_unescape(data, path, 0, NULL);
-  if(!pop3c->mailbox)
-    return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
-
-  return CURLE_OK;
+  return Curl_urldecode(data, path, 0, &pop3c->mailbox, NULL, TRUE);
 }
 
 /* call this when the DO phase has completed */
diff --git a/lib/smtp.c b/lib/smtp.c
index 4cb25efcaee40aa06f78afa1f9d5a458d2add4dd..553c697d063edb448bb7ac80c6d9bac5d1d12d8b 100644
--- a/lib/smtp.c
+++ b/lib/smtp.c
@@ -1244,7 +1244,6 @@ static CURLcode smtp_connect(struct connectdata *conn,
   struct SessionHandle *data = conn->data;
   struct pingpong *pp = &smtpc->pp;
   const char *path = conn->data->state.path;
-  int len;
   char localhost[HOSTNAME_MAX + 1];
 
   *done = FALSE; /* default to not done yet */
@@ -1316,9 +1315,9 @@ static CURLcode smtp_connect(struct connectdata *conn,
   }
 
   /* url decode the path and use it as domain with EHLO */
-  smtpc->domain = curl_easy_unescape(conn->data, path, 0, &len);
-  if(!smtpc->domain)
-    return CURLE_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
+  result = Curl_urldecode(conn->data, path, 0, &smtpc->domain, NULL, TRUE);
+  if(result)
+    return result;
 
   /* When we connect, we start in the state where we await the server greeting
    */