Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease that causes scarring and fibrotic transformation of the lung parenchyma, resulting in the progressive loss of respiratory function and, often, death. An increasing body of literature shows that pulmonary vascular permeability may play a big role in the pathogenesis of this condition. There is a search for therapeutic targets to try and modulate this vascular permeability in fibrotic lungs. One such class of targets that shows great promise is sphingolipids. In this review, we examine the ways that sphingolipids can affect vascular permeability and the pathogenesis of IPF, as well as the pros and cons of their potential role as therapeutic targets for treating IPF.