diff --git a/internal/auth/jwtSession.go b/internal/auth/jwtSession.go
index de7e985b..8fae61e1 100644
--- a/internal/auth/jwtSession.go
+++ b/internal/auth/jwtSession.go
@@ -25,15 +25,21 @@ type JWTSessionAuthenticator struct {
 var _ Authenticator = (*JWTSessionAuthenticator)(nil)
 
 func (ja *JWTSessionAuthenticator) Init() error {
-	if pubKey := os.Getenv("CROSS_LOGIN_JWT_HS512_KEY"); pubKey != "" {
-		bytes, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(pubKey)
-		if err != nil {
-			cclog.Warn("Could not decode cross login JWT HS512 key")
-			return err
-		}
-		ja.loginTokenKey = bytes
+	pubKey := os.Getenv("CROSS_LOGIN_JWT_HS512_KEY")
+	if pubKey == "" {
+		// Without a configured key the HMAC verification below would run against
+		// an empty key, which lets anyone forge a valid token. Refuse to register
+		// the authenticator in that case so JWT session login is simply disabled.
+		return errors.New("CROSS_LOGIN_JWT_HS512_KEY not set: JWT session login disabled")
 	}
 
+	bytes, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(pubKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		cclog.Warn("Could not decode cross login JWT HS512 key")
+		return err
+	}
+	ja.loginTokenKey = bytes
+
 	cclog.Info("JWT Session authenticator successfully registered")
 	return nil
 }
@@ -60,6 +66,12 @@ func (ja *JWTSessionAuthenticator) Login(
 
 	token, err := jwt.Parse(rawtoken, func(t *jwt.Token) (any, error) {
 		if t.Method == jwt.SigningMethodHS256 || t.Method == jwt.SigningMethodHS512 {
+			// Defense in depth: an empty key would verify any HMAC signature.
+			// Init() already refuses to register without a key, so this should
+			// never trigger, but guard explicitly rather than trust the chain.
+			if len(ja.loginTokenKey) == 0 {
+				return nil, errors.New("HS login key not configured")
+			}
 			return ja.loginTokenKey, nil
 		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unkown signing method for login token: %s (known: HS256, HS512, EdDSA)", t.Method.Alg())
diff --git a/internal/repository/jobQuery.go b/internal/repository/jobQuery.go
index 5256bacb..0b162179 100644
--- a/internal/repository/jobQuery.go
+++ b/internal/repository/jobQuery.go
@@ -336,8 +336,18 @@ func buildTimeCondition(field string, cond *config.TimeRange, query sq.SelectBui
 	}
 }
 
+// validMetricName guards metric/footprint names that are interpolated into the
+// json_extract() path of footprint queries. SQLite treats double-quoted strings
+// as string literals, so an unescaped name (e.g. containing a `"`) would allow
+// SQL injection. Legitimate metric names only use these characters.
+var validMetricName = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$`)
+
 // buildFloatJSONCondition creates a filter on a numeric field within the footprint JSON column, using BETWEEN only if required.
 func buildFloatJSONCondition(jsonField string, cond *model.FloatRange, query sq.SelectBuilder) sq.SelectBuilder {
+	if !validMetricName.MatchString(jsonField) {
+		cclog.Warnf("buildFloatJSONCondition: rejecting invalid metric name %q", jsonField)
+		return query.Where("0 = 1")
+	}
 	query = query.Where("JSON_VALID(footprint)")
 	if cond.From > 0.0 && cond.To > 0.0 {
 		return query.Where("JSON_EXTRACT(footprint, \"$."+jsonField+"\") BETWEEN ? AND ?", cond.From, cond.To)
diff --git a/internal/repository/stats.go b/internal/repository/stats.go
index 0bc85109..fb0bc075 100644
--- a/internal/repository/stats.go
+++ b/internal/repository/stats.go
@@ -909,6 +909,13 @@ func (r *JobRepository) jobsMetricStatisticsHistogram(
 	filters []*model.JobFilter,
 	bins *int,
 ) (*model.MetricHistoPoints, error) {
+	// The metric name is interpolated into the json_extract() path of the SQL
+	// below. SQLite parses double-quoted strings as literals, so reject anything
+	// that is not a plain metric identifier to prevent SQL injection.
+	if !validMetricName.MatchString(metric) {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid metric name: %q", metric)
+	}
+
 	// Peak value defines the upper bound for binning: values are distributed across
 	// bins from 0 to peak. First try to get peak from filtered cluster, otherwise
 	// scan all clusters to find the maximum peak value.
diff --git a/pkg/metricstore/lineprotocol.go b/pkg/metricstore/lineprotocol.go
index ed42eead..c8b27126 100644
--- a/pkg/metricstore/lineprotocol.go
+++ b/pkg/metricstore/lineprotocol.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -196,6 +197,16 @@ var decodeStatePool = sync.Pool{
 // When the checkpoint format is "wal" each successfully decoded sample is also
 // sent to WALMessages so the WAL staging goroutine can persist it durably
 // before the next binary snapshot.
+// isValidPathComponent reports whether s is safe to use as a single filesystem
+// path component (cluster or host name) when building checkpoint/WAL paths. It
+// rejects path-traversal sequences and embedded separators. An empty string is
+// allowed because a missing host tag is legitimate and does not escape the root.
+func isValidPathComponent(s string) bool {
+	return !strings.Contains(s, "..") &&
+		!strings.Contains(s, "/") &&
+		!strings.Contains(s, "\\")
+}
+
 func DecodeLine(dec *lineprotocol.Decoder,
 	ms *MemoryStore,
 	clusterDefault string,
@@ -282,6 +293,17 @@ func DecodeLine(dec *lineprotocol.Decoder,
 			}
 		}
 
+		// cluster and host are taken verbatim from attacker-controllable line
+		// protocol tags and are later used as filesystem path components for the
+		// checkpoint/WAL files (path.Join(RootDir, cluster, host)). Reject
+		// path-traversal sequences so a malicious tag cannot escape the
+		// checkpoint root. Skip the offending sample; the rest of the batch is
+		// still processed.
+		if !isValidPathComponent(cluster) || !isValidPathComponent(host) {
+			cclog.Warnf("[METRICSTORE]> rejecting metric with invalid cluster/host tag (cluster=%q host=%q)", cluster, host)
+			continue
+		}
+
 		// If the cluster or host changed, the lvl was set to nil
 		if lvl == nil {
 			st.selector = st.selector[:2]