diff --git a/internal/api/middleware.go b/internal/api/middleware.go
index 0512597..710c82f 100644
--- a/internal/api/middleware.go
+++ b/internal/api/middleware.go
@@ -7,12 +7,20 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 )
 
-// withRequestID assigns a request id (honoring an inbound X-Request-Id) and
-// echoes it on the response and into the context for the error envelope.
+// withRequestID assigns a request id (honoring a WELL-FORMED inbound X-Request-Id)
+// and echoes it on the response and into the context for the error envelope.
+//
+// A caller-supplied id is honored for cross-service tracing, but only after
+// validation: the id is echoed to the client, embedded in the error envelope, AND
+// persisted verbatim into audit_logs.request_id, so an unvalidated one is an
+// audit-integrity vector — an arbitrarily long value bloats the audit row and a
+// stray control byte could smuggle a forged line into a log sink. A rejected id is
+// replaced with a fresh server-minted one: that one request loses its inbound trace
+// link, which is strictly better than storing attacker-controlled text.
 func withRequestID(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		id := r.Header.Get("X-Request-Id")
-		if id == "" {
+		if !validRequestID(id) {
 			id = newRequestID()
 		}
 		w.Header().Set("X-Request-Id", id)
@@ -21,6 +29,32 @@ func withRequestID(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	})
 }
 
+// maxRequestIDLen caps an inbound X-Request-Id we are willing to echo and persist.
+// 64 characters comfortably fits a UUID or a typical distributed-trace id while
+// bounding what reaches audit_logs.request_id.
+const maxRequestIDLen = 64
+
+// validRequestID reports whether an inbound X-Request-Id is safe to echo and store:
+// non-empty, within maxRequestIDLen, and restricted to an unambiguous, log-safe
+// charset (ASCII alphanumerics plus '-', '_', '.'). The byte-length check bounds it
+// regardless of encoding, and the charset excludes whitespace, CR/LF, and every
+// other control or multibyte rune, so nothing that survives can pollute a log line
+// or the audit row.
+func validRequestID(id string) bool {
+	if id == "" || len(id) > maxRequestIDLen {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, c := range id {
+		switch {
+		case c >= 'a' && c <= 'z', c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z', c >= '0' && c <= '9':
+		case c == '-', c == '_', c == '.':
+		default:
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 // withRecover turns a panicking handler into a 500 envelope instead of a
 // dropped connection.
 func withRecover(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
diff --git a/internal/api/middleware_test.go b/internal/api/middleware_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..184619e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/api/middleware_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package api
+
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// genRequestIDRE matches a server-minted request id: newRequestID emits 8 random
+// bytes as lowercase hex, i.e. exactly 16 hex characters.
+var genRequestIDRE = regexp.MustCompile(`^[0-9a-f]{16}$`)
+
+// TestRequestIDValidation pins the audit-integrity guard on withRequestID. A
+// caller-supplied X-Request-Id lands in the response header, the error envelope,
+// AND audit_logs.request_id, so a well-formed id is honored verbatim (the trace
+// link is worth keeping) but anything oversized or carrying a stray byte is dropped
+// and replaced with a fresh server-minted id — never echoed or persisted. /healthz
+// is Public, so withRequestID (part of the shared baseChain) runs without auth.
+func TestRequestIDValidation(t *testing.T) {
+	h := newTestAPI(newFakeRepo(), newFakeCluster()).ExternalHandler()
+
+	assignedID := func(reqID string) string {
+		var hdr map[string]string
+		if reqID != "" {
+			hdr = map[string]string{"X-Request-Id": reqID}
+		}
+		return do(h, "GET", "/healthz", "", hdr).Header().Get("X-Request-Id")
+	}
+
+	// A well-formed inbound id is honored verbatim (cross-service trace link kept).
+	const good = "trace-abc_123.DEF"
+	if got := assignedID(good); got != good {
+		t.Fatalf("valid X-Request-Id: assigned %q, want it echoed as %q", got, good)
+	}
+
+	// Absent → the server mints one.
+	if got := assignedID(""); !genRequestIDRE.MatchString(got) {
+		t.Fatalf("absent X-Request-Id: assigned %q, want a generated 16-hex id", got)
+	}
+
+	// Every malformed id is rejected and replaced with a fresh generated id, never
+	// reflected back — the load-bearing property for audit-log integrity.
+	for _, bad := range []struct{ name, id string }{
+		{"too long", strings.Repeat("a", maxRequestIDLen+1)},
+		{"space", "has space"},
+		{"crlf injection", "abc\r\ndef"},
+		{"path separator", "a/b"},
+		{"multibyte", "trace-ünïcödé"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(bad.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := assignedID(bad.id)
+			if got == bad.id {
+				t.Fatalf("rejected id was echoed back verbatim: %q", got)
+			}
+			if !genRequestIDRE.MatchString(got) {
+				t.Fatalf("replacement %q is not a generated 16-hex id", got)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}