diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchers.java b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchers.java
index dbe4e7be654..69d43823ea9 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchers.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchers.java
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ public static Builder builder() {
 
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new builder configured to match external (non-private) IP addresses.
+	 * <p>
+	 * A {@code null} address and the wildcard addresses ({@code 0.0.0.0} and {@code ::})
+	 * are not treated as external.
 	 * @return a {@link Builder} configured to match external addresses
 	 */
 	public static Builder matchExternal() {
@@ -314,6 +317,10 @@ public String toString() {
 	 * External addresses are any addresses that are not internal (private) addresses.
 	 * This matcher delegates to {@link InternalInetAddressMatcher} and negates the
 	 * result.
+	 * <p>
+	 * A {@code null} address and the wildcard addresses ({@code 0.0.0.0} and {@code ::})
+	 * are not external. They do not identify a host that a request could originate from,
+	 * so negating the internal check is not meaningful for them.
 	 *
 	 * @author Gábor Vaspöri
 	 * @author Kian Jamali
@@ -335,6 +342,9 @@ private ExternalInetAddressMatcher() {
 
 		@Override
 		public boolean matches(@Nullable InetAddress address) {
+			if (address == null || address.isAnyLocalAddress()) {
+				return false;
+			}
 			return !this.internalMatcher.matches(address);
 		}
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchersTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchersTests.java
index 387af3c3814..3232cd44c05 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchersTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/util/matcher/InetAddressMatchersTests.java
@@ -461,6 +461,19 @@ void matchesWhenIpv6UniqueLocalThenReturnsFalse(String address) throws Exception
 			assertThat(matcher.matches(InetAddress.getByName(address))).isFalse();
 		}
 
+		@Test
+		void matchesWhenNullThenReturnsFalse() {
+			InetAddressMatcher matcher = InetAddressMatchers.matchExternal().build();
+			assertThat(matcher.matches((InetAddress) null)).isFalse();
+		}
+
+		@ParameterizedTest
+		@ValueSource(strings = { "0.0.0.0", "::" })
+		void matchesWhenWildcardThenReturnsFalse(String address) throws Exception {
+			InetAddressMatcher matcher = InetAddressMatchers.matchExternal().build();
+			assertThat(matcher.matches(InetAddress.getByName(address))).isFalse();
+		}
+
 	}
 
 	@Nested