diff --git a/src/rpcserver.cpp b/src/rpcserver.cpp
index 2c05c2f12d..248c971b47 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.cpp
+++ b/src/rpcserver.cpp
@@ -110,6 +110,17 @@ QJsonObject CRpcServer::CreateJsonRpcErrorReply ( int code, QString message )
     return object;
 }
 
+// Maximum size of a single JSON-RPC request line. An unauthenticated client that
+// sends data without a terminating newline is only ever consumed on a complete line
+// (canReadLine()), so without a bound the received bytes accumulate in the socket read
+// buffer without limit until the process is killed by the allocator. Requests larger
+// than this, or unterminated data that fills the buffer, are rejected instead of held.
+// The largest single request is a welcome or chat message, which CServer truncates to
+// MAX_LEN_CHAT_TEXT (1600) characters and which is 9698 bytes as a compact JSON line
+// when every character is escaped as \uXXXX; 16 KiB leaves 1.7x that, or room for a
+// batch of 221 ordinary calls.
+static constexpr int MAX_JSON_RPC_REQUEST_BYTES = 16 * 1024;
+
 void CRpcServer::OnNewConnection()
 {
     QTcpSocket* pSocket = pTransportServer->nextPendingConnection();
@@ -120,16 +131,36 @@ void CRpcServer::OnNewConnection()
 
     qDebug() << "- JSON-RPC: received connection from:" << pSocket->peerAddress().toString();
     vecClients.append ( pSocket );
-    isAuthenticated[pSocket] = false;
+    isAuthenticated[pSocket]  = false;
+    isDiscardingLine[pSocket] = false;
+
+    // Bound the per-connection read buffer so unterminated input cannot exhaust memory.
+    pSocket->setReadBufferSize ( MAX_JSON_RPC_REQUEST_BYTES );
 
     connect ( pSocket, &QTcpSocket::disconnected, [this, pSocket]() {
         qDebug() << "- JSON-RPC: connection from:" << pSocket->peerAddress().toString() << "closed";
         vecClients.removeAll ( pSocket );
         isAuthenticated.remove ( pSocket );
+        isDiscardingLine.remove ( pSocket );
         pSocket->deleteLater();
     } );
 
     connect ( pSocket, &QTcpSocket::readyRead, [this, pSocket]() {
+        // An oversized request was already answered with an error; the rest of its line
+        // is discarded here so that the connection, and the authentication bound to it,
+        // survive and the next request is read normally.
+        if ( isDiscardingLine[pSocket] )
+        {
+            const QByteArray sPending   = pSocket->peek ( pSocket->bytesAvailable() );
+            const int        iEndOfLine = sPending.indexOf ( '\n' );
+            pSocket->read ( iEndOfLine < 0 ? sPending.size() : iEndOfLine + 1 );
+            if ( iEndOfLine < 0 )
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+            isDiscardingLine[pSocket] = false;
+        }
+
         while ( pSocket->canReadLine() )
         {
             QByteArray line = pSocket->readLine();
@@ -197,6 +228,18 @@ void CRpcServer::OnNewConnection()
             pSocket->disconnectFromHost();
             return;
         }
+
+        // A full buffer with no complete line is an oversized or unterminated request:
+        // answer it, then drop the bytes instead of holding them.
+        if ( !pSocket->canReadLine() && pSocket->bytesAvailable() >= MAX_JSON_RPC_REQUEST_BYTES )
+        {
+            Send ( pSocket,
+                   QJsonDocument ( CreateJsonRpcErrorReply (
+                       iErrParseError,
+                       QString ( "Parse error: Request exceeds maximum size of %1 bytes" ).arg ( MAX_JSON_RPC_REQUEST_BYTES ) ) ) );
+            isDiscardingLine[pSocket] = true;
+            pSocket->read ( pSocket->bytesAvailable() );
+        }
     } );
 }
 
diff --git a/src/rpcserver.h b/src/rpcserver.h
index cf9da2706f..0803099a56 100644
--- a/src/rpcserver.h
+++ b/src/rpcserver.h
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ class CRpcServer : public QObject
     // A map from method name to handler functions
     QMap<QString, CRpcHandler> mapMethodHandlers;
     QMap<QTcpSocket*, bool>    isAuthenticated;
+    QMap<QTcpSocket*, bool>    isDiscardingLine;
     QVector<QTcpSocket*>       vecClients;
 
     void HandleApiAuth ( QTcpSocket* pSocket, const QJsonObject& params, QJsonObject& response );