diff --git a/mercurial/configitems.py b/mercurial/configitems.py
--- a/mercurial/configitems.py
+++ b/mercurial/configitems.py
@@ -1244,6 +1244,11 @@ coreconfigitem(
 )
 coreconfigitem(
     b'experimental',
+    b'server.allow-hidden-access',
+    default=list,
+)
+coreconfigitem(
+    b'experimental',
     b'server.filesdata.recommended-batch-size',
     default=50000,
 )
diff --git a/mercurial/hgweb/common.py b/mercurial/hgweb/common.py
--- a/mercurial/hgweb/common.py
+++ b/mercurial/hgweb/common.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import mimetypes
 import os
 import stat
 
+from ..i18n import _
 from ..pycompat import (
     getattr,
     open,
@@ -49,6 +50,32 @@ def ismember(ui, username, userlist):
     return userlist == [b'*'] or username in userlist
 
 
+def hashiddenaccess(repo, req):
+    if bool(req.qsparams.get(b'access-hidden')):
+        # Disable this by default for now. Main risk is to get critical
+        # information exposed through this. This is expecially risky if
+        # someone decided to make a changeset secret for good reason, but
+        # its predecessors are still draft.
+        #
+        # The feature is currently experimental, so we can still decide to
+        # change the default.
+        ui = repo.ui
+        allow = ui.configlist(b'experimental', b'server.allow-hidden-access')
+        user = req.remoteuser
+        if allow and ismember(ui, user, allow):
+            return True
+        else:
+            msg = (
+                _(
+                    b'ignoring request to access hidden changeset by '
+                    b'unauthorized user: %r\n'
+                )
+                % user
+            )
+            ui.warn(msg)
+    return False
+
+
 def checkauthz(hgweb, req, op):
     """Check permission for operation based on request data (including
     authentication info). Return if op allowed, else raise an ErrorResponse
diff --git a/mercurial/hgweb/hgweb_mod.py b/mercurial/hgweb/hgweb_mod.py
--- a/mercurial/hgweb/hgweb_mod.py
+++ b/mercurial/hgweb/hgweb_mod.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ from .. import (
 )
 
 from . import (
+    common,
     request as requestmod,
     webcommands,
     webutil,
@@ -124,6 +125,16 @@ class requestcontext:
         self.req = req
         self.res = res
 
+        # Only works if the filter actually support being upgraded to show
+        # visible changesets
+        current_filter = repo.filtername
+        if (
+            common.hashiddenaccess(repo, req)
+            and current_filter is not None
+            and current_filter + b'.hidden' in repoview.filtertable
+        ):
+            self.repo = self.repo.filtered(repo.filtername + b'.hidden')
+
         self.maxchanges = self.configint(b'web', b'maxchanges')
         self.stripecount = self.configint(b'web', b'stripes')
         self.maxshortchanges = self.configint(b'web', b'maxshortchanges')
diff --git a/tests/test-remote-hidden.t b/tests/test-remote-hidden.t
--- a/tests/test-remote-hidden.t
+++ b/tests/test-remote-hidden.t
@@ -111,3 +111,47 @@ changesets in secret and higher phases a
   revision:    0
 
   $ killdaemons.py
+
+Test accessing hidden changeset through hgweb
+---------------------------------------------
+
+  $ hg -R repo-with-hidden serve -p $HGPORT -d --pid-file hg.pid --config "experimental.server.allow-hidden-access=*" -E error.log --accesslog access.log
+  $ cat hg.pid >> $DAEMON_PIDS
+
+Hidden changeset are hidden by default:
+
+  $ get-with-headers.py localhost:$HGPORT 'log?style=raw' | grep revision:
+  revision:    2
+  revision:    0
+
+Hidden changeset are visible when requested:
+
+  $ get-with-headers.py localhost:$HGPORT 'log?style=raw&access-hidden=1' | grep revision:
+  revision:    3
+  revision:    2
+  revision:    1
+  revision:    0
+
+Same check on a server that do not allow hidden access:
+```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
+
+  $ hg -R repo-with-hidden serve -p $HGPORT1 -d --pid-file hg2.pid --config "experimental.server.allow-hidden-access=" -E error.log --accesslog access.log
+  $ cat hg2.pid >> $DAEMON_PIDS
+
+Hidden changeset are hidden by default:
+
+  $ get-with-headers.py localhost:$HGPORT1 'log?style=raw' | grep revision:
+  revision:    2
+  revision:    0
+
+Hidden changeset are still hidden despite being the hidden access request:
+
+  $ get-with-headers.py localhost:$HGPORT1 'log?style=raw&access-hidden=1' | grep revision:
+  revision:    2
+  revision:    0
+
+=============
+Final cleanup
+=============
+
+  $ killdaemons.py