diff --git a/go_backend/cover.go b/go_backend/cover.go
index 24f7888e..e6818ecd 100644
--- a/go_backend/cover.go
+++ b/go_backend/cover.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ func downloadCoverToMemory(coverURL string) ([]byte, error) {
 
 const (
 	embeddedCoverJPEGQuality = 88
+	maxCoverDownloadBytes    = 24 * 1024 * 1024
 	// Decoding arbitrary provider artwork allocates roughly four bytes per
 	// pixel. Refuse pathological images before Decode so a malicious extension
 	// cannot force an unbounded mobile allocation. Normal artwork through
@@ -298,11 +299,17 @@ func fetchCoverBytes(downloadURL string) ([]byte, error) {
 	if resp.StatusCode != 200 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cover download failed: HTTP %d", resp.StatusCode)
 	}
+	if resp.ContentLength > maxCoverDownloadBytes {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cover download exceeds %d MiB limit", maxCoverDownloadBytes/(1024*1024))
+	}
 
-	data, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
+	data, err := io.ReadAll(io.LimitReader(resp.Body, maxCoverDownloadBytes+1))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read cover data: %w", err)
 	}
+	if len(data) > maxCoverDownloadBytes {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cover download exceeds %d MiB limit", maxCoverDownloadBytes/(1024*1024))
+	}
 
 	width, height := coverDimensions(data)
 	GoLog("[Cover] Downloaded %d KB (%dx%d)", len(data)/1024, width, height)
diff --git a/go_backend/cover_test.go b/go_backend/cover_test.go
index 4fcc8ec4..31131559 100644
--- a/go_backend/cover_test.go
+++ b/go_backend/cover_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,14 @@ package gobackend
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"image"
 	"image/color"
 	"image/jpeg"
 	"image/png"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
@@ -151,6 +155,20 @@ func TestDownloadCoverUsesProviderURLUnchanged(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestFetchCoverBytesRejectsOversizedResponse(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(writer http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		writer.Header().Set("Content-Length", fmt.Sprintf("%d", maxCoverDownloadBytes+1))
+		writer.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+	SetAllowPrivateNetwork(true)
+	defer SetAllowPrivateNetwork(false)
+
+	if _, err := fetchCoverBytes(server.URL); err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "exceeds") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected oversized cover rejection, got %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestResizeCoverForEmbeddingPreservesAspectRatio(t *testing.T) {
 	original := encodedTestCover(t, 1200, 600, "jpeg")