diff --git a/internal/airplay/client.go b/internal/airplay/client.go
index 79f5565..44f582e 100644
--- a/internal/airplay/client.go
+++ b/internal/airplay/client.go
@@ -352,6 +352,9 @@ func (c *AirPlayClient) readPlaintextHTTPResponse() ([]byte, map[string]string,
 	dbg("[READ] plaintext response header:\n%s", header)
 	statusCode, contentLength, headers := parseHTTPHeader(header)
 	dbg("[READ] status=%d content-length=%d", statusCode, contentLength)
+	if err := validateContentLength(contentLength); err != nil {
+		return nil, headers, err
+	}
 
 	if statusCode < 200 || statusCode >= 300 {
 		// Drain body if present
@@ -696,3 +699,23 @@ func (mc *mirrorCipher) EncryptFrame(payload []byte) []byte {
 
 	return out
 }
+
+// maxResponseBody bounds what a receiver can make the sender allocate from a
+// Content-Length header. Control-channel bodies here are small plists; this is
+// far above anything legitimate and far below anything that would exhaust
+// memory.
+const maxResponseBody = 8 << 20
+
+// validateContentLength rejects a Content-Length the sender cannot safely act
+// on. A negative value is the important one: it reaches make([]byte, n) and
+// panics with "makeslice: len out of range", so a receiver answering
+// "Content-Length: -1" crashes the sender outright.
+func validateContentLength(n int) error {
+	if n < 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid negative Content-Length %d", n)
+	}
+	if n > maxResponseBody {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Content-Length %d exceeds the %d byte limit", n, maxResponseBody)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/airplay/client_contentlength_test.go b/internal/airplay/client_contentlength_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6f947f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/airplay/client_contentlength_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package airplay
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// A receiver answering with a negative Content-Length used to crash the sender:
+// the value reached make([]byte, n) and panicked with "makeslice: len out of
+// range". It is now rejected as a parse error.
+func TestReadResponseRejectsHostileContentLength(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name   string
+		header string
+		want   string
+	}{
+		{"negative", "Content-Length: -1", "negative"},
+		{"large negative", "Content-Length: -2147483648", "negative"},
+		{"absurdly large", "Content-Length: 2147483647", "exceeds"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			client, server := net.Pipe()
+			defer client.Close()
+			defer server.Close()
+
+			go func() {
+				server.Write([]byte("RTSP/1.0 200 OK\r\n" + tc.header + "\r\n\r\n"))
+				time.Sleep(time.Second)
+			}()
+
+			c := &AirPlayClient{conn: client}
+			done := make(chan error, 1)
+			go func() {
+				defer func() {
+					if r := recover(); r != nil {
+						t.Errorf("panicked instead of returning an error: %v", r)
+						done <- nil
+					}
+				}()
+				_, _, err := c.readPlaintextHTTPResponse()
+				done <- err
+			}()
+
+			select {
+			case err := <-done:
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Fatal("expected an error")
+				}
+				if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tc.want) {
+					t.Fatalf("error %q does not mention %q", err, tc.want)
+				}
+			case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+				t.Fatal("timed out")
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// A well-formed response must still be read normally.
+func TestReadResponseAcceptsValidContentLength(t *testing.T) {
+	client, server := net.Pipe()
+	defer client.Close()
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	go func() {
+		server.Write([]byte("RTSP/1.0 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 5\r\n\r\nhello"))
+		time.Sleep(time.Second)
+	}()
+
+	c := &AirPlayClient{conn: client}
+	body, headers, err := c.readPlaintextHTTPResponse()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if string(body) != "hello" {
+		t.Fatalf("body = %q, want %q", body, "hello")
+	}
+	if headers["content-length"] != "5" {
+		t.Fatalf("content-length header = %q", headers["content-length"])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValidateContentLength(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		n  int
+		ok bool
+	}{
+		{-1, false}, {0, true}, {1, true},
+		{maxResponseBody, true}, {maxResponseBody + 1, false},
+	} {
+		if err := validateContentLength(tc.n); (err == nil) != tc.ok {
+			t.Errorf("validateContentLength(%d): err=%v, want ok=%v", tc.n, err, tc.ok)
+		}
+	}
+}