diff --git a/mod/parse_url.php b/mod/parse_url.php
index 3b2522ab12..7631a5a710 100644
--- a/mod/parse_url.php
+++ b/mod/parse_url.php
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@
  *
  * @see ParseUrl::getSiteinfo() for more information about scraping embeddable content
  */
+
 use Friendica\App;
 use Friendica\Core\Hook;
 use Friendica\Core\Logger;
 use Friendica\Core\System;
 use Friendica\Util\Network;
 use Friendica\Util\ParseUrl;
+use Friendica\Util\Strings;
 
 function parse_url_content(App $a)
 {
@@ -25,10 +27,14 @@ function parse_url_content(App $a)
 
 	$br = "\n";
 
-	if (!empty($_GET['binurl'])) {
+	if (!empty($_GET['binurl']) && Strings::isHex($_GET['binurl'])) {
 		$url = trim(hex2bin($_GET['binurl']));
-	} else {
+	} elseif (!empty($_GET['url'])) {
 		$url = trim($_GET['url']);
+	// fallback in case no url is valid
+	} else {
+		Logger::info('No url given');
+		exit();
 	}
 
 	if (!empty($_GET['title'])) {
diff --git a/mod/photos.php b/mod/photos.php
index 0524845b15..b904abe311 100644
--- a/mod/photos.php
+++ b/mod/photos.php
@@ -188,6 +188,9 @@ function photos_post(App $a)
 	}
 
 	if ($a->argc > 3 && $a->argv[2] === 'album') {
+		if (!Strings::isHex($a->argv[3])) {
+			$a->internalRedirect('photos/' . $a->data['user']['nickname'] . '/album');
+		}
 		$album = hex2bin($a->argv[3]);
 
 		if ($album === L10n::t('Profile Photos') || $album === 'Contact Photos' || $album === L10n::t('Contact Photos')) {
@@ -960,7 +963,7 @@ function photos_content(App $a)
 			return;
 		}
 
-		$selname = $datum ? hex2bin($datum) : '';
+		$selname = Strings::isHex($datum) ? hex2bin($datum) : '';
 
 		$albumselect = '';
 
@@ -1027,6 +1030,10 @@ function photos_content(App $a)
 
 	// Display a single photo album
 	if ($datatype === 'album') {
+		// if $datum is not a valid hex, redirect to the default page
+		if (!Strings::isHex($datum)) {
+			$a->internalRedirect('photos/' . $a->data['user']['nickname']. '/album');
+		}
 		$album = hex2bin($datum);
 
 		$total = 0;
diff --git a/src/Util/Strings.php b/src/Util/Strings.php
index 3f8990d6c1..88dd1d39f8 100644
--- a/src/Util/Strings.php
+++ b/src/Util/Strings.php
@@ -31,6 +31,18 @@ class Strings
         return $return;
     }
 
+	/**
+	 * Checks, if the given string is a valid hexadecimal code
+	 *
+	 * @param string $hexCode
+	 *
+	 * @return bool
+	 */
+    public static function isHex($hexCode)
+    {
+	    return !empty($hexCode) ? @preg_match("/^[a-f0-9]{2,}$/i", $hexCode) && !(strlen($hexCode) & 1) : false;
+    }
+
     /**
      * @brief This is our primary input filter.
      *
diff --git a/tests/src/Util/StringsTest.php b/tests/src/Util/StringsTest.php
index 666b76e57b..f926183108 100644
--- a/tests/src/Util/StringsTest.php
+++ b/tests/src/Util/StringsTest.php
@@ -82,4 +82,39 @@ class StringsTest extends TestCase
 			$escapedString
 		);
 	}
+
+	public function dataIsHex()
+	{
+		return [
+			'validHex' => [
+				'input' => '90913473615bf00c122ac78338492980',
+				'valid' => true,
+			],
+			'invalidHex' => [
+				'input' => '90913473615bf00c122ac7833849293',
+				'valid' => false,
+			],
+			'emptyHex' => [
+				'input' => '',
+				'valid' => false,
+			],
+			'nullHex' => [
+				'input' => null,
+				'valid' => false,
+			],
+		];
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Tests if the string is a valid hexadecimal value
+	 *
+	 * @param string $input
+	 * @param bool $valid
+	 *
+	 * @dataProvider dataIsHex
+	 */
+	public function testIsHex($input, $valid)
+	{
+		$this->assertEquals($valid, Strings::isHex($input));
+	}
 }