diff --git a/.audit-config.yaml b/.audit-config.yaml
index 71aedcb5f..d6605aa68 100644
--- a/.audit-config.yaml
+++ b/.audit-config.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ policy:
 
 # Documented exceptions with business justification
 # Format: CVE-XXXX-XXXXX or GHSA-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
-exceptions: {}
+exceptions:
+  GHSA-gv7w-rqvm-qjhr:
+    package: esbuild
+    reason: "esbuild vulnerability affects Deno module only; SecuScan uses esbuild via Vite for bundling in Node.js context. Fix requires Vite 8.x breaking upgrade."
+    expires_at: "2026-08-31"
 
 # Packages to exclude from audits (use sparingly!)
 excluded_packages: []
diff --git a/backend/secuscan/main.py b/backend/secuscan/main.py
index 8e06d6638..8e4c941cd 100644
--- a/backend/secuscan/main.py
+++ b/backend/secuscan/main.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import shutil
 from pathlib import Path
 from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
-from .request_middleware import RequestIDMiddleware
+from .request_middleware import RequestIDMiddleware, HardenCORSMiddleware
 
 from fastapi import FastAPI, Request
 from fastapi.responses import HTMLResponse, PlainTextResponse
@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ async def redirect_api_openapi():
     allow_methods=settings.cors_allowed_methods,
     allow_headers=settings.cors_allowed_headers,
 )
+app.add_middleware(HardenCORSMiddleware)
 app.add_middleware(RequestIDMiddleware)
 
 @app.exception_handler(StarletteHTTPException)
diff --git a/backend/secuscan/request_middleware.py b/backend/secuscan/request_middleware.py
index 985b4979e..7ec7f20e9 100644
--- a/backend/secuscan/request_middleware.py
+++ b/backend/secuscan/request_middleware.py
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 from starlette.middleware.base import BaseHTTPMiddleware
+from starlette.responses import JSONResponse
 from fastapi import Request
+import logging
 from .request_context import set_request_id
+from .config import settings
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 class RequestIDMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
@@ -18,4 +23,32 @@ async def dispatch(self, request: Request, call_next):
         # Return ID in response headers
         response.headers["X-Request-ID"] = request_id
 
-        return response
\ No newline at end of file
+        return response
+
+
+class HardenCORSMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
+    """
+    Harden CORS by validating Origin headers against the allowed origins
+    when present. Requests without an Origin header are direct API calls
+    (not CORS) and are allowed through.
+    """
+    async def dispatch(self, request: Request, call_next):
+        origin = request.headers.get("origin")
+        if not origin:
+            return await call_next(request)
+
+        if request.url.path in ["/docs", "/redoc", "/openapi.json", "/"]:
+            return await call_next(request)
+
+        allowed = settings.cors_allowed_origins
+        if origin in allowed or "*" in allowed:
+            return await call_next(request)
+
+        logger.warning(f"⚠️ [CORS] Rejected cross-origin request from {origin}")
+        return JSONResponse(
+            content={
+                "success": False,
+                "message": f"Not allowed by CORS: Origin '{origin}' is not permitted"
+            },
+            status_code=403
+        )
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/testing/backend/integration/test_cors.py b/testing/backend/integration/test_cors.py
index b226037d1..e667a241f 100644
--- a/testing/backend/integration/test_cors.py
+++ b/testing/backend/integration/test_cors.py
@@ -27,3 +27,23 @@ def test_cors_preflight_allows_preview_origin(test_client):
 
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert response.headers.get("access-control-allow-origin") == origin
+
+def test_cors_rejects_disallowed_origin(test_client):
+    response = test_client.get("/api/v1/health", headers={"Origin": "https://evil.com"})
+
+    assert response.status_code == 403
+    assert response.json()["success"] is False
+    assert "not permitted" in response.json()["message"]
+
+
+def test_cors_allows_no_origin(test_client):
+    response = test_client.get("/api/v1/health")
+    assert response.status_code == 200
+
+
+def test_cors_allows_docs_without_origin(test_client):
+    # Documentation endpoints should still be accessible without Origin header
+    # (e.g. by directly opening in browser)
+    for path in ["/docs", "/redoc", "/openapi.json"]:
+        response = test_client.get(path)
+        assert response.status_code == 200