diff --git a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
index 0da4399..f78c991 100644
--- a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
+++ b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/Conversations.kt
@@ -345,7 +345,15 @@ class Conversations(
 
     /** Download and open a blob a message referred to. */
     fun fetchAttachment(ref: Attachment.Ref): ByteArray =
-        Attachment.open(relay.downloadAttachment(ref.id), ref)
+        // The size came through the ratchet, so the relay cannot inflate it —
+        // which is what makes it usable as a ceiling (audit M5).
+        Attachment.open(
+            relay.downloadAttachment(
+                ref.id,
+                maxBytes = if (ref.bytes > 0) minOf(ref.bytes + 4096L,
+                                                    RelayClient.HARD_ATTACHMENT_CAP)
+                           else RelayClient.HARD_ATTACHMENT_CAP),
+            ref)
 
     /**
      * Refuse to encrypt to keys we have reason to distrust.
diff --git a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
index d4f2dab..ba55c0e 100644
--- a/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
+++ b/client/src/main/kotlin/io/flamenet/client/RelayClient.kt
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ class RelayClient(
         private val JSON = "application/json".toMediaType()
         private val OCTETS = "application/octet-stream".toMediaType()
 
+        /** The relay's own 10 MiB per-blob limit, with slack (audit M5). */
+        const val HARD_ATTACHMENT_CAP = 12L * 1024 * 1024
+
         fun defaultHttpClient(): OkHttpClient = OkHttpClient.Builder()
             .callTimeout(25, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
             // No response cache, deliberately. The payloads are ciphertext, but
@@ -233,10 +236,41 @@ class RelayClient(
         request("POST", url("/e2e/attachments"), "/e2e/attachments", blob.toRequestBody(OCTETS))
             .use { json(it).getString("id") }
 
-    /** `GET /e2e/attachments/{id}`. The caller verifies the digest and decrypts. */
-    fun downloadAttachment(id: String): ByteArray =
+    /**
+     * `GET /e2e/attachments/{id}`. The caller verifies the digest and decrypts.
+     *
+     * 🔴 **Bounded before it is read (audit M5).** `maxBytes` is the size the
+     * sealed reference promised — it arrived through the ratchet, so the relay
+     * cannot inflate it. Without a ceiling, `body.bytes()` reads whatever the
+     * relay sends, and a malicious one answers a photo request with a
+     * multi-gigabyte body that kills the app before the digest check it would
+     * have failed.
+     */
+    fun downloadAttachment(id: String, maxBytes: Long = HARD_ATTACHMENT_CAP): ByteArray =
         request("GET", url("/e2e/attachments/$id"), "/e2e/attachments/$id", null)
-            .use { it.body?.bytes() ?: ByteArray(0) }
+            .use { response ->
+                val body = response.body ?: return@use ByteArray(0)
+                if (body.contentLength() > maxBytes) {
+                    throw RelayException.Malformed("attachment is larger than it claimed to be")
+                }
+                // contentLength() is -1 on a chunked reply, so the READ is
+                // capped too rather than trusting the header: take one byte
+                // more than allowed and refuse if it arrives.
+                val stream = body.byteStream()
+                val out = java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream()
+                val buf = ByteArray(64 * 1024)
+                var total = 0L
+                while (true) {
+                    val n = stream.read(buf)
+                    if (n < 0) break
+                    total += n
+                    if (total > maxBytes) {
+                        throw RelayException.Malformed("attachment exceeded its declared size")
+                    }
+                    out.write(buf, 0, n)
+                }
+                out.toByteArray()
+            }
 
     // -- Groups (§8.9) -------------------------------------------------------