diff --git a/src/browser/CdpScreenshot.ts b/src/browser/CdpScreenshot.ts
index 2e4193644..b29ab121d 100644
--- a/src/browser/CdpScreenshot.ts
+++ b/src/browser/CdpScreenshot.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { mainFrameUrl } from "./CdpCaptureDocuments.js";
 import { captureFrames } from "./CdpCaptureDocuments.js";
 import { CdpCaptureCompleteness } from "./CdpCaptureCompleteness.js";
 import { decodeCanonicalBase64 } from "../domain/webScreenshot.js";
+import { readPngHeaderDimensions } from "../domain/pngHeader.js";
 
 interface ScreenshotContext {
   readonly connection: CdpConnection;
@@ -94,7 +95,9 @@ export const captureCdpScreenshot = async (
     encoded === undefined ? undefined : decodeCanonicalBase64(encoded);
   if (bytes === undefined)
     throw new BrowserObservationError("inspect_web_page", "payload_limit");
-  const dimensions = pngDimensions(bytes);
+  const dimensions = readPngHeaderDimensions(bytes);
+  if (dimensions === undefined)
+    throw new BrowserObservationError("inspect_web_page", "protocol_error");
   if (navigation.leftScope)
     throw new BrowserObservationError("inspect_web_page", "target_not_allowed");
   const afterUrl = mainFrameUrl(after);
@@ -158,21 +161,3 @@ const observeScreenshotNavigation = (
   if (allowedSanitizedUrl(frame?.url, origins) === undefined)
     state.leftScope = true;
 };
-
-const pngDimensions = (
-  bytes: Buffer,
-): { readonly width: number; readonly height: number } => {
-  if (
-    bytes.byteLength < 24 ||
-    !bytes.subarray(0, 8).equals(PNG_SIGNATURE) ||
-    bytes.subarray(12, 16).toString("ascii") !== "IHDR"
-  )
-    throw new BrowserObservationError("inspect_web_page", "protocol_error");
-  const width = bytes.readUInt32BE(16);
-  const height = bytes.readUInt32BE(20);
-  if (width === 0 || height === 0)
-    throw new BrowserObservationError("inspect_web_page", "protocol_error");
-  return { width, height };
-};
-
-const PNG_SIGNATURE = Buffer.from([137, 80, 78, 71, 13, 10, 26, 10]);
diff --git a/src/domain/native/nativeUiObservation.ts b/src/domain/native/nativeUiObservation.ts
index 392d4d8db..22493175c 100644
--- a/src/domain/native/nativeUiObservation.ts
+++ b/src/domain/native/nativeUiObservation.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { createHash } from "node:crypto";
 import { z } from "zod";
 
 import { decodeCanonicalBase64 } from "../webScreenshot.js";
+import { readPngHeaderDimensions } from "../pngHeader.js";
 
 const scope = {
   pid: z.number().int().positive(),
@@ -95,11 +96,8 @@ const nativeUiScreenshotSchema = z
         code: "custom",
         message: "PNG screenshot digest mismatch",
       });
-    if (
-      bytes.byteLength < 24 ||
-      !bytes.subarray(0, 8).equals(PNG_SIGNATURE) ||
-      bytes.subarray(12, 16).toString("ascii") !== "IHDR"
-    ) {
+    const dimensions = readPngHeaderDimensions(bytes);
+    if (dimensions === undefined) {
       context.addIssue({
         code: "custom",
         message: "Screenshot bytes are not a PNG image",
@@ -107,8 +105,8 @@ const nativeUiScreenshotSchema = z
       return;
     }
     if (
-      bytes.readUInt32BE(16) !== screenshot.width ||
-      bytes.readUInt32BE(20) !== screenshot.height
+      dimensions.width !== screenshot.width ||
+      dimensions.height !== screenshot.height
     )
       context.addIssue({
         code: "custom",
@@ -116,8 +114,6 @@ const nativeUiScreenshotSchema = z
       });
   });
 
-const PNG_SIGNATURE = Buffer.from([137, 80, 78, 71, 13, 10, 26, 10]);
-
 export const nativeUiSnapshotSchema = z.strictObject({
   window: z.strictObject({
     pid: z.number().int().positive(),
diff --git a/src/domain/pngHeader.test.ts b/src/domain/pngHeader.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8df531bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/domain/pngHeader.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import { expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { readPngHeaderDimensions } from "./pngHeader.js";
+
+const png = Buffer.from(
+  "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mP8/x8AAwMCAO+jv4sAAAAASUVORK5CYII=",
+  "base64",
+);
+
+it("reads encoded dimensions without changing screenshot bytes", () => {
+  const bytes = Buffer.from(png);
+  bytes.writeUInt32BE(257, 16);
+  bytes.writeUInt32BE(129, 20);
+  const original = Buffer.from(bytes);
+  expect(readPngHeaderDimensions(bytes)).toEqual({ width: 257, height: 129 });
+  expect(bytes.equals(original)).toBe(true);
+});
+
+it.each([12, 13, 14, 15])("rejects ASCII-folded IHDR byte at %s", (offset) => {
+  const bytes = Buffer.from(png);
+  bytes[offset] = (bytes[offset] ?? 0) | 0x80;
+  expect(bytes.subarray(12, 16).toString("ascii")).toBe("IHDR");
+  expect(readPngHeaderDimensions(bytes)).toBeUndefined();
+});
+
+it("rejects incomplete headers, invalid signatures and zero dimensions", () => {
+  expect(readPngHeaderDimensions(png.subarray(0, 23))).toBeUndefined();
+  const badSignature = Buffer.from(png);
+  badSignature[0] = 0;
+  expect(readPngHeaderDimensions(badSignature)).toBeUndefined();
+  for (const offset of [16, 20]) {
+    const zero = Buffer.from(png);
+    zero.writeUInt32BE(0, offset);
+    expect(readPngHeaderDimensions(zero)).toBeUndefined();
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/domain/pngHeader.ts b/src/domain/pngHeader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..58cdd7d3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/domain/pngHeader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+const PNG_SIGNATURE = Buffer.from([137, 80, 78, 71, 13, 10, 26, 10]);
+const IHDR_TYPE = Buffer.from("IHDR");
+
+/** Read screenshot dimensions from a byte-faithful PNG header, not a full image decode. */
+export const readPngHeaderDimensions = (
+  bytes: Buffer,
+): { readonly width: number; readonly height: number } | undefined => {
+  if (
+    bytes.byteLength < 24 ||
+    !bytes.subarray(0, 8).equals(PNG_SIGNATURE) ||
+    !bytes.subarray(12, 16).equals(IHDR_TYPE)
+  )
+    return undefined;
+  const width = bytes.readUInt32BE(16);
+  const height = bytes.readUInt32BE(20);
+  return width === 0 || height === 0 ? undefined : { width, height };
+};
diff --git a/src/native/NativeUiObservation.test.ts b/src/native/NativeUiObservation.test.ts
index 4d1093826..d2238bd01 100644
--- a/src/native/NativeUiObservation.test.ts
+++ b/src/native/NativeUiObservation.test.ts
@@ -90,6 +90,33 @@ describe("native UI screenshot validation", () => {
     },
   );
 
+  it("rejects a PNG whose IHDR type only matches after ASCII folding", async () => {
+    const bytes = Buffer.from(validPng);
+    const type = bytes.subarray(12, 16);
+    type[0] = (type[0] ?? 0) | 0x80;
+    expect(type.toString("ascii")).toBe("IHDR");
+    const screenshot = {
+      mime_type: "image/png",
+      base64: bytes.toString("base64"),
+      sha256: createHash("sha256").update(bytes).digest("hex"),
+      width: 1,
+      height: 1,
+    };
+    const result = await observeNativeUi(
+      target,
+      "observe_native_ui",
+      { ...scope, screenshot: true },
+      {
+        environment: {},
+        invoke: async () => ({
+          ok: true,
+          result: { ...snapshot, screenshot },
+        }),
+      },
+    );
+    expect(result.ok).toBe(false);
+  });
+
   it("accepts a self-consistent PNG screenshot from the helper", async () => {
     const bytes = validPng;
     const screenshot = {