diff --git a/src/artifacts/ZipArtifactReader.ts b/src/artifacts/ZipArtifactReader.ts
index 05c729cb72..7578542260 100644
--- a/src/artifacts/ZipArtifactReader.ts
+++ b/src/artifacts/ZipArtifactReader.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,13 @@ class NodeFileReader extends Reader<string> {
     const handle = this.#handle;
     if (handle === undefined) throw new Error("ZIP reader is not initialized");
     const readBytes = Math.min(length, this.size - index);
+    // A central-directory offset can point past EOF. Type that malformed ZIP
+    // read before a negative size reaches Buffer.alloc and becomes an I/O error.
+    if (readBytes < 0)
+      throw new ArtifactReaderFailure(
+        "format",
+        `ZIP archive is malformed: read at ${index} extends beyond the ${this.size}-byte archive`,
+      );
     if (
       this.maximumReadBytes !== undefined &&
       readBytes > this.maximumReadBytes
diff --git a/tests/acceptance/artifactZipCurrentDirectory.test.ts b/tests/acceptance/artifactZipCurrentDirectory.test.ts
index 734b639aaa..a695ddc145 100644
--- a/tests/acceptance/artifactZipCurrentDirectory.test.ts
+++ b/tests/acceptance/artifactZipCurrentDirectory.test.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,37 @@ import { parseEvidence } from "../../src/domain/evidence.js";
 import { createTestTempDirectory } from "../fixtures/temporaryDirectory.js";
 import { cliTest } from "../support/cli/cliFixture.js";
 
+cliTest(
+  "classifies a ZIP local-header offset beyond EOF as malformed input",
+  async ({ cli }) => {
+    const root = await createTestTempDirectory("rea-zip-beyond-eof-");
+    const archivePath = join(root, "beyond-eof.zip");
+    const writer = new ZipWriter(new Uint8ArrayWriter());
+    await writer.add("member.bin", new TextReader("valid member bytes"));
+    const bytes = Buffer.from(await writer.close());
+    const central = bytes.indexOf(Buffer.from([0x50, 0x4b, 0x01, 0x02]));
+    if (central < 0) throw new Error("Expected a ZIP central directory");
+    bytes.writeUInt32LE(bytes.length + 1024, central + 42);
+    await writeFile(archivePath, bytes);
+
+    const result = await cli.run({
+      arguments: ["inspect-artifact", archivePath, "--json"],
+    });
+    expect(result.exitCode, result.stdout + result.stderr).toBe(1);
+    expect(result.json).toMatchObject({
+      code: "artifact_operation_failed",
+      category: "execution_failure",
+      message:
+        "Artifact is invalid or has changed. Get a fresh copy and try again.",
+      details: {
+        operation: "inspect_artifact",
+        reason: "format",
+        detail: expect.stringContaining("extends beyond"),
+      },
+    });
+  },
+);
+
 cliTest(
   "inspects and extracts ZIP members with repeated current-directory prefixes",
   async ({ cli }) => {