diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 458bb67e0a..261aece1d1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -67,6 +67,14 @@ jobs:
   bump-dev-version:
     needs: publish
     if: ${{ inputs.dry-run != true }}
+    # A reusable-workflow CALL cannot grant the callee more than the calling job holds,
+    # and GitHub refuses the whole run at startup when the called workflow's own job
+    # declares permissions the caller did not pass down ("startup_failure", runs
+    # 33615174183 / 33615177849 — the first dispatches since #3129 wired this call).
+    # The callee's job declares exactly these two; nothing else in this file gains them.
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
     uses: ./.github/workflows/dev-version-bump.yml
     with:
       released-version: v${{ inputs.version }}
diff --git a/src/client/machine-listener.ts b/src/client/machine-listener.ts
index b7e54032b6..e23519b083 100644
--- a/src/client/machine-listener.ts
+++ b/src/client/machine-listener.ts
@@ -111,6 +111,14 @@ export function startMachineListener(
         if (managementPrincipal(req, managementAuth, config) !== "gui-session") {
           return Response.json({ error: "opencodex machine GUI session required" }, { status: 401 });
         }
+        // A loopback dashboard session proves possession, not user presence: any local
+        // process can fetch the dashboard bootstrap and replay its token and CSRF value.
+        // Keep the connected listener useful for status/diagnostics, but never let that
+        // credentialless bootstrap authorize durable machine changes. Those operations
+        // remain available through the explicit CLI commands.
+        if (req.method !== "GET" && req.method !== "HEAD") {
+          return Response.json({ error: "opencodex machine changes require the local CLI" }, { status: 403 });
+        }
         return await handleMachineApi(req, url, connection, machineApiDeps) ?? json404(req);
       }
 
diff --git a/tests/client-machine-listener.test.ts b/tests/client-machine-listener.test.ts
index b4838718fe..fef193fc1b 100644
--- a/tests/client-machine-listener.test.ts
+++ b/tests/client-machine-listener.test.ts
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ describe("client machine listener", () => {
     expect((await fetch(new URL("/api/machine/status", server.url), { method: "POST" })).status).toBe(404);
   });
 
-  test("requires a GUI session for safe reads and Origin plus CSRF for mutations", async () => {
+  test("allows GUI-session reads but refuses mutations from a credentialless bootstrap", async () => {
     let syncCalls = 0;
     const server = startMachineListener(0, {
       state: connection(),
@@ -124,11 +124,16 @@ describe("client machine listener", () => {
     expect((await fetch(syncUrl, { method: "POST", headers: safeHeaders, body: "{}" })).status).toBe(401);
     expect(syncCalls).toBe(0);
     const mutationHeaders = await guiHeaders(server, true);
-    expect((await fetch(syncUrl, { method: "POST", headers: mutationHeaders, body: "{}" })).status).toBe(200);
-    expect(syncCalls).toBe(1);
+    expect((await fetch(syncUrl, { method: "POST", headers: mutationHeaders, body: "{}" })).status).toBe(403);
+    expect((await fetch(new URL("/api/machine/shim", server.url), {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: mutationHeaders,
+      body: JSON.stringify({ action: "uninstall" }),
+    })).status).toBe(403);
+    expect(syncCalls).toBe(0);
   });
 
-  test("disconnect commits before 202 and schedules standalone recycle while the hub is offline", async () => {
+  test("does not let a bootstrapped GUI session disconnect or recycle the machine", async () => {
     let disconnected = false;
     let recycled = false;
     const server = startMachineListener(0, {
@@ -148,9 +153,9 @@ describe("client machine listener", () => {
       headers: await guiHeaders(server, true),
       body: "{}",
     });
-    expect(response.status).toBe(202);
-    expect(disconnected).toBe(true);
-    expect(recycled).toBe(true);
+    expect(response.status).toBe(403);
+    expect(disconnected).toBe(false);
+    expect(recycled).toBe(false);
   });
 
   test("refuses startup without matching durable connected state", () => {