diff --git a/.jules/sentinel.md b/.jules/sentinel.md
index 157d3ed8..2a7afaea 100644
--- a/.jules/sentinel.md
+++ b/.jules/sentinel.md
@@ -21,3 +21,7 @@
 **Vulnerability:** `CustomEmployeeManager.Register` accepted arbitrary employee IDs without validation, which were later used directly in `Path.Combine` to construct image loading paths, enabling path traversal (CWE-22).
 **Learning:** Identifiers provided by mods or external sources must be treated as untrusted input and validated before being used in file system operations.
 **Prevention:** Validate input strings that form part of a file path before concatenating them. Reject them if they contain directory traversal characters like `..`, `Path.DirectorySeparatorChar`, `Path.AltDirectorySeparatorChar`, or any invalid filename characters (using `Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars()`).
+## 2024-10-31 - Defense-in-depth Path Traversal in UI Fallbacks
+**Vulnerability:** Path traversal vulnerability in `CustomEmployeeManager.SetPortrait` via `employeeId` bypassing registration checks during direct method calls or deserialization.
+**Learning:** Adding standard early-return security checks to prevent path traversal skips necessary fallback UI state logic later in the method (like setting default colors).
+**Prevention:** Wrap vulnerable file-system operations in conditional blocks instead of returning early, guaranteeing the fallback UI state logic is still applied.
diff --git a/src/API/CustomEmployeeManager.cs b/src/API/CustomEmployeeManager.cs
index 9b4512b6..fd94c406 100644
--- a/src/API/CustomEmployeeManager.cs
+++ b/src/API/CustomEmployeeManager.cs
@@ -891,10 +891,16 @@ private static void SetPortrait(Transform card, string employeeId)
 
             string assetsDir = Path.Combine(MelonEnvironment.UserDataDirectory, "ModAssets");
             string? imagePath = null;
-            foreach (var ext in new[] { ".jpg", ".png" })
+
+            // SECURITY: Validate employeeId to prevent path traversal attacks during file system operations.
+            // If invalid, we skip file loading and let the UI fall back to its default state instead of returning early.
+            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(employeeId) && employeeId.IndexOfAny(Path.GetInvalidFileNameChars()) < 0 && !employeeId.Contains(".."))
             {
-                string candidate = Path.Combine(assetsDir, employeeId + ext);
-                if (File.Exists(candidate)) { imagePath = candidate; break; }
+                foreach (var ext in new[] { ".jpg", ".png" })
+                {
+                    string candidate = Path.Combine(assetsDir, employeeId + ext);
+                    if (File.Exists(candidate)) { imagePath = candidate; break; }
+                }
             }
 
             if (imagePath != null)
diff --git a/src/GameLayer/Patches/Networking/CablePositionsPatch.cs b/src/GameLayer/Patches/Networking/CablePositionsPatch.cs
index 84c3f50c..91993eda 100644
--- a/src/GameLayer/Patches/Networking/CablePositionsPatch.cs
+++ b/src/GameLayer/Patches/Networking/CablePositionsPatch.cs
@@ -67,7 +67,13 @@ public static void SetBaseId(int baseId)
         }
         while (Interlocked.CompareExchange(ref _nextCableId, baseId + 1, current) != current);
 
-        MelonLogger.Msg($"[CablePatch] Cable ID counter set to {baseId + 1}");
+        try { LogBaseIdUpdate(baseId + 1); } catch { }
+    }
+
+    [System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImpl(System.Runtime.CompilerServices.MethodImplOptions.NoInlining)]
+    private static void LogBaseIdUpdate(int nextId)
+    {
+        MelonLogger.Msg($"[CablePatch] Cable ID counter set to {nextId}");
     }
 
     public static int PeekNextId() => _nextCableId;