diff --git a/src/agents/bash-tools.exec.ts b/src/agents/bash-tools.exec.ts
index b9de81872..197a7aa20 100644
--- a/src/agents/bash-tools.exec.ts
+++ b/src/agents/bash-tools.exec.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ import { listNodes, resolveNodeIdFromList } from "./tools/nodes-utils.js";
 import { getShellConfig, sanitizeBinaryOutput } from "./shell-utils.js";
 import { buildCursorPositionResponse, stripDsrRequests } from "./pty-dsr.js";
 import { parseAgentSessionKey, resolveAgentIdFromSessionKey } from "../routing/session-key.js";
+import {
+  detectDangerousCommand,
+  formatDangerousCommandError,
+} from "../security/dangerous-commands.js";
 
 const DEFAULT_MAX_OUTPUT = clampNumber(
   readEnvInt("PI_BASH_MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS"),
@@ -755,6 +759,12 @@ export function createExecTool(
         throw new Error("Provide a command to start.");
       }
 
+      // SECURITY: Check for dangerous command patterns before any execution
+      const dangerousMatch = detectDangerousCommand(params.command, "high");
+      if (dangerousMatch) {
+        throw new Error(formatDangerousCommandError(dangerousMatch));
+      }
+
       const maxOutput = DEFAULT_MAX_OUTPUT;
       const pendingMaxOutput = DEFAULT_PENDING_MAX_OUTPUT;
       const warnings: string[] = [];
diff --git a/src/security/dangerous-commands.ts b/src/security/dangerous-commands.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1f2f47ae9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/security/dangerous-commands.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+/**
+ * SECURITY: Dangerous Command Detection
+ *
+ * Blocks commands that are inherently dangerous regardless of allowlist status.
+ * These patterns are blocked at the lowest level before any execution.
+ */
+
+export interface DangerousCommandMatch {
+  pattern: string;
+  reason: string;
+  severity: "critical" | "high" | "medium";
+}
+
+// Critical: Commands that can cause catastrophic damage
+const CRITICAL_PATTERNS: Array<{ regex: RegExp; reason: string }> = [
+  {
+    regex: /\brm\s+(-[a-zA-Z]*f[a-zA-Z]*\s+)?(-[a-zA-Z]*r[a-zA-Z]*\s+)?[\/~]\s*$/i,
+    reason: "Recursive delete of root or home directory",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\brm\s+(-[a-zA-Z]*r[a-zA-Z]*\s+)?(-[a-zA-Z]*f[a-zA-Z]*\s+)?[\/~]\s*$/i,
+    reason: "Recursive delete of root or home directory",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\brm\s+-rf\s+\/(?!\w)/i,
+    reason: "Recursive forced delete from root",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\brm\s+-fr\s+\/(?!\w)/i,
+    reason: "Recursive forced delete from root",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: />\s*\/dev\/sd[a-z]/i,
+    reason: "Direct write to block device",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bdd\s+.*\bof=\/dev\/sd[a-z]/i,
+    reason: "Direct write to block device with dd",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bmkfs\b/i,
+    reason: "Filesystem format command",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\b:\s*\(\s*\)\s*\{\s*:\s*\|\s*:\s*&\s*\}\s*;\s*:/,
+    reason: "Fork bomb detected",
+  },
+];
+
+// High: Commands that can compromise security or cause significant damage
+const HIGH_PATTERNS: Array<{ regex: RegExp; reason: string }> = [
+  {
+    regex: /\bcurl\s+.*\|\s*(ba)?sh\b/i,
+    reason: "Piping remote content directly to shell",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bwget\s+.*\|\s*(ba)?sh\b/i,
+    reason: "Piping remote content directly to shell",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bcurl\s+.*\|\s*sudo\b/i,
+    reason: "Piping remote content to sudo",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bwget\s+.*\|\s*sudo\b/i,
+    reason: "Piping remote content to sudo",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\beval\s+.*\$\(curl\b/i,
+    reason: "Eval of remote content",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\beval\s+.*\$\(wget\b/i,
+    reason: "Eval of remote content",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bgit\s+push\s+.*--force\b/i,
+    reason: "Force push can destroy remote history",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bgit\s+push\s+-f\b/i,
+    reason: "Force push can destroy remote history",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bchmod\s+(-[a-zA-Z]*\s+)?777\s+\//i,
+    reason: "Setting world-writable permissions on system paths",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bchown\s+.*\s+\/(?:etc|usr|bin|sbin|lib|var)\b/i,
+    reason: "Changing ownership of system directories",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: />\s*\/etc\//i,
+    reason: "Direct write to /etc",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bsudo\s+rm\b/i,
+    reason: "Elevated delete command",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\|\s*rm\b/i,
+    reason: "Piping to rm command",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bxargs\s+.*\brm\b/i,
+    reason: "Using xargs with rm",
+  },
+];
+
+// Medium: Commands that warrant caution but may have legitimate uses
+const MEDIUM_PATTERNS: Array<{ regex: RegExp; reason: string }> = [
+  {
+    regex: /\brm\s+-rf?\b/i,
+    reason: "Recursive delete (verify target carefully)",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bgit\s+reset\s+--hard\b/i,
+    reason: "Hard reset discards uncommitted changes",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bgit\s+clean\s+-fd/i,
+    reason: "Clean removes untracked files",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bkillall\b/i,
+    reason: "Kills all processes matching name",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bpkill\s+-9\b/i,
+    reason: "Force kills processes",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\bshutdown\b/i,
+    reason: "System shutdown command",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: /\breboot\b/i,
+    reason: "System reboot command",
+  },
+  {
+    regex: />\s*\/dev\/null\s*2>&1\s*&/i,
+    reason: "Background process with suppressed output",
+  },
+];
+
+/**
+ * Check if a command matches any dangerous patterns.
+ * Returns the match details if dangerous, null if safe.
+ *
+ * @param command The shell command to check
+ * @param blockLevel Minimum severity to block: "critical" blocks only critical,
+ *                   "high" blocks critical+high, "medium" blocks all
+ */
+export function detectDangerousCommand(
+  command: string,
+  blockLevel: "critical" | "high" | "medium" = "high"
+): DangerousCommandMatch | null {
+  const normalized = command.trim();
+
+  // Always check critical patterns
+  for (const { regex, reason } of CRITICAL_PATTERNS) {
+    if (regex.test(normalized)) {
+      return { pattern: regex.source, reason, severity: "critical" };
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Check high patterns if blockLevel is high or medium
+  if (blockLevel === "high" || blockLevel === "medium") {
+    for (const { regex, reason } of HIGH_PATTERNS) {
+      if (regex.test(normalized)) {
+        return { pattern: regex.source, reason, severity: "high" };
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Check medium patterns only if blockLevel is medium
+  if (blockLevel === "medium") {
+    for (const { regex, reason } of MEDIUM_PATTERNS) {
+      if (regex.test(normalized)) {
+        return { pattern: regex.source, reason, severity: "medium" };
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Format a user-friendly error message for a blocked command.
+ */
+export function formatDangerousCommandError(match: DangerousCommandMatch): string {
+  return (
+    `Command blocked (${match.severity}): ${match.reason}. ` +
+    "This command pattern is restricted for security. " +
+    "If you need to perform this action, do it manually outside of the agent."
+  );
+}