diff --git a/firmware/lib/hmac/hmac.cpp b/firmware/lib/hmac/hmac.cpp
index a3903c7..f8cc73e 100644
--- a/firmware/lib/hmac/hmac.cpp
+++ b/firmware/lib/hmac/hmac.cpp
@@ -14,12 +14,21 @@ static HString bytes_to_hex(const uint8_t* bytes, size_t len) {
     return out;
 }
 
-static void hex_to_bytes(const HString& hex, uint8_t* out, size_t out_len) {
-    if (hex.length() % 2 != 0) return; // malformed — odd-length hex
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < out_len && (i * 2 + 1) < hex.length(); i++) {
-        char byte_str[3] = {hex[i*2], hex[i*2+1], 0};
+static bool is_hex_char(char c) {
+    return (c >= '0' && c <= '9') ||
+           (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f') ||
+           (c >= 'A' && c <= 'F');
+}
+
+static bool hex_to_bytes(const HString& hex, uint8_t* out, size_t out_len) {
+    if (hex.length() != out_len * 2) return false;
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < out_len; i++) {
+        char a = hex[i*2], b = hex[i*2+1];
+        if (!is_hex_char(a) || !is_hex_char(b)) return false;
+        char byte_str[3] = {a, b, 0};
         out[i] = (uint8_t)strtol(byte_str, nullptr, 16);
     }
+    return true;
 }
 
 static bool sha256(const uint8_t* data, size_t len, uint8_t out[32]) {
@@ -52,10 +61,20 @@ HString hmac_sign(const HString& secret_hex,
     snprintf(ts_buf, sizeof(ts_buf), "%u", (unsigned)timestamp);
     HString message = method + "\n" + path + "\n" + ts_buf + "\n" + body_hash_hex;
 
-    // 3. Decode secret from hex
+    // 3. Decode secret from hex. Reject empty / odd-length / oversized /
+    // non-hex inputs — flash_device.py validates at provision time, but
+    // hmac_sign refuses to sign under a malformed key regardless of how it
+    // ended up in NVS (legacy provisioning, NVS corruption, etc.).
+    if (secret_hex.length() == 0 ||
+        secret_hex.length() > 128 ||
+        secret_hex.length() % 2 != 0) {
+        return HString{};
+    }
     size_t secret_len = secret_hex.length() / 2;
     uint8_t secret[64] = {};
-    hex_to_bytes(secret_hex, secret, secret_len);
+    if (!hex_to_bytes(secret_hex, secret, secret_len)) {
+        return HString{};
+    }
 
     // 4. HMAC-SHA256(secret, message)
     uint8_t hmac_result[32];