diff --git a/src/core/walker.ts b/src/core/walker.ts
index 8b391d6..2749c53 100644
--- a/src/core/walker.ts
+++ b/src/core/walker.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 // Gitignore-aware recursive directory walker with depth control
 // Returns filtered file paths respecting project ignore patterns
 
-import { readdir, readFile, stat } from "fs/promises";
-import { join, relative, resolve } from "path";
+import { readdir, readFile, realpath, stat } from "fs/promises";
+import { isAbsolute, join, relative, resolve } from "path";
 import ignore, { type Ignore } from "ignore";
 
 export interface WalkOptions {
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ const ALWAYS_IGNORE = new Set([
   ".parcel-cache",
 ]);
 
+function isWithinRoot(rootDir: string, targetPath: string): boolean {
+  const relPath = relative(rootDir, targetPath);
+  return relPath === "" || (!relPath.startsWith("..") && !isAbsolute(relPath));
+}
+
 async function loadIgnoreRules(rootDir: string): Promise<Ignore> {
   const ig = ignore();
   try {
@@ -76,16 +81,23 @@ async function walkRecursive(
 export async function walkDirectory(options: WalkOptions): Promise<FileEntry[]> {
   const rootDir = resolve(options.rootDir);
   const startDir = options.targetPath ? resolve(rootDir, options.targetPath) : rootDir;
-  const ig = await loadIgnoreRules(rootDir);
   const results: FileEntry[] = [];
 
+  let rootRealPath: string;
+  let startRealPath: string;
   try {
-    await stat(startDir);
+    [rootRealPath, startRealPath] = await Promise.all([realpath(rootDir), realpath(startDir)]);
+    await stat(startRealPath);
   } catch {
     return results;
   }
 
-  await walkRecursive(startDir, rootDir, ig, 0, options.depthLimit ?? 0, results);
+  if (!isWithinRoot(rootRealPath, startRealPath)) {
+    throw new Error(`Path traversal denied: "${options.targetPath}" resolves outside root directory`);
+  }
+
+  const ig = await loadIgnoreRules(rootRealPath);
+  await walkRecursive(startRealPath, rootRealPath, ig, 0, options.depthLimit ?? 0, results);
   return results;
 }
 
diff --git a/test/main/walker.test.mjs b/test/main/walker.test.mjs
index 7a36126..e2945f4 100644
--- a/test/main/walker.test.mjs
+++ b/test/main/walker.test.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, it, before, after } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { walkDirectory, groupByDirectory } from "../../build/core/walker.js";
-import { writeFile, mkdir, rm } from "fs/promises";
+import { writeFile, mkdir, rm, symlink } from "fs/promises";
 import { join } from "path";
 
 const FIXTURE_DIR = join(process.cwd(), "test", "_walk_fixtures");
@@ -95,6 +95,51 @@ describe("walker", () => {
       assert.equal(entries.length, 0);
     });
 
+    it("rejects targetPath traversal outside root", async () => {
+      await assert.rejects(
+        walkDirectory({
+          rootDir: FIXTURE_DIR,
+          targetPath: "..",
+        }),
+        /Path traversal denied/,
+      );
+    });
+
+    it("rejects targetPath traversal to sibling paths with shared prefixes", async () => {
+      const siblingDir = `${FIXTURE_DIR}-sibling`;
+      await mkdir(siblingDir, { recursive: true });
+      try {
+        await assert.rejects(
+          walkDirectory({
+            rootDir: FIXTURE_DIR,
+            targetPath: "../_walk_fixtures-sibling",
+          }),
+          /Path traversal denied/,
+        );
+      } finally {
+        await rm(siblingDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("rejects symlink escapes passed as targetPath", async () => {
+      const outsideDir = `${FIXTURE_DIR}-outside`;
+      const linkPath = join(FIXTURE_DIR, "outside-link");
+      await mkdir(outsideDir, { recursive: true });
+      try {
+        await symlink(outsideDir, linkPath, "dir");
+        await assert.rejects(
+          walkDirectory({
+            rootDir: FIXTURE_DIR,
+            targetPath: "outside-link",
+          }),
+          /Path traversal denied/,
+        );
+      } finally {
+        await rm(linkPath, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        await rm(outsideDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      }
+    });
+
     it("includes depth info", async () => {
       const entries = await walkDirectory({ rootDir: FIXTURE_DIR });
       const topLevel = entries.filter((e) => e.depth === 0);