diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file.go
index ab7f7860e..de92128a2 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file.go
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ import (
 
 const modinfoName = ".modinfo"
 
+// maxDecompressedModuleSize bounds what a compressed kernel module may expand to. The compressed size
+// is bounded by the file in the image, what it expands to is not, and it lands in a temp file, so the
+// exposure is disk. Real modules are tens of MB. This bounds one spill, not the process: peak disk is
+// this times cataloger parallelism (NumCPU*4 by default, unbounded when --parallelism is negative).
+const maxDecompressedModuleSize = 256 * 1024 * 1024
+
 func parseLinuxKernelModuleFile(ctx context.Context, _ file.Resolver, _ *generic.Environment, reader file.LocationReadCloser) ([]pkg.Package, []artifact.Relationship, error) {
 	unionReader, err := unionreader.GetUnionReader(reader)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -61,6 +67,11 @@ func parseLinuxKernelModuleFile(ctx context.Context, _ file.Resolver, _ *generic
 // the returned reader and must Close it; the underlying reader (r) is not closed by Close on the
 // passthrough path — its lifecycle is the caller's.
 func decompressedModuleReader(ctx context.Context, path string, r unionreader.UnionReader) (unionreader.UnionReader, error) {
+	return decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit(ctx, path, r, maxDecompressedModuleSize)
+}
+
+// decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit takes the bound as a parameter so tests can exercise it cheaply.
+func decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit(ctx context.Context, path string, r unionreader.UnionReader, maxDecompressed int64) (unionreader.UnionReader, error) {
 	// fast path: plain .ko files don't need format sniffing
 	if strings.HasSuffix(path, ".ko") {
 		return &nopCloseUnionReader{UnionReader: r}, nil
@@ -97,10 +108,17 @@ func decompressedModuleReader(ctx context.Context, path string, r unionreader.Un
 	}
 	tfr := &tempFileUnionReader{File: tempFile, cleanup: fileCleanup}
 
-	if _, err := io.Copy(tempFile, rc); err != nil {
+	// read one past the cap so hitting it is distinguishable from a module that ends there; truncating
+	// would hand the parser a partial ELF, which reads as corrupt rather than rejected.
+	written, err := io.Copy(tempFile, io.LimitReader(rc, maxDecompressed+1))
+	if err != nil {
 		_ = tfr.Close()
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to write decompressed kernel module: %w", err)
 	}
+	if written > maxDecompressed {
+		_ = tfr.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decompressed kernel module is larger than the max allowed size (%d bytes)", maxDecompressed)
+	}
 	if _, err := tempFile.Seek(0, io.SeekStart); err != nil {
 		_ = tfr.Close()
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to rewind decompressed kernel module: %w", err)
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file_test.go
index cb99485bc..763feed1d 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/kernel/parse_linux_kernel_module_file_test.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/tmpdir"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/file"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/internal/unionreader"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic"
 )
@@ -253,6 +254,58 @@ func TestDecompressedModuleReader(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// wrapUnionReader adapts a byte slice to the reader set decompressedModuleReader takes.
+func wrapUnionReader(data []byte) unionreader.UnionReader {
+	br := bytes.NewReader(data)
+	return struct {
+		io.ReadCloser
+		io.ReaderAt
+		io.Seeker
+	}{
+		ReadCloser: io.NopCloser(br),
+		ReaderAt:   br,
+		Seeker:     br,
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDecompressedModuleReader_boundsDecompressedSize(t *testing.T) {
+	koBytes := minimalKOBytes([]string{"name=test", "vermagic=5.15.0 SMP mod_unload"})
+	compressed := gzCompress(koBytes)
+
+	t.Run("rejects a module that expands past the cap", func(t *testing.T) {
+		_, err := decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit(testContext(t), "/test.ko.gz",
+			wrapUnionReader(compressed), int64(len(koBytes)-1))
+
+		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "larger than the max allowed size")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("a module at exactly the cap is accepted whole", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// the byte-for-byte assert is the point: a "did not error" check would miss a truncating read
+		got, err := decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit(testContext(t), "/test.ko.gz",
+			wrapUnionReader(compressed), int64(len(koBytes)))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		t.Cleanup(func() { _ = got.Close() })
+
+		b, err := io.ReadAll(got)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Equal(t, koBytes, b, "at-cap module must come back byte for byte")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("the partial spill is cleaned up when the cap is hit", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// otherwise repeated hostile modules exhaust the disk anyway, which is what the cap prevents
+		dir := t.TempDir()
+		ctx := tmpdir.WithValue(context.Background(), tmpdir.FromPath(dir))
+
+		_, err := decompressedModuleReaderWithLimit(ctx, "/test.ko.gz",
+			wrapUnionReader(compressed), int64(len(koBytes)-1))
+		require.Error(t, err)
+
+		entries, err := os.ReadDir(dir)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Empty(t, entries, "temp spill should be removed when the module is rejected")
+	})
+}
+
 func TestDecompressedModuleReader_TempFileRemovedOnClose(t *testing.T) {
 	koBytes := minimalKOBytes([]string{"name=test", "vermagic=5.15.0 SMP"})
 	data := gzCompress(koBytes)