diff --git a/.github/scripts/check-pr-security.mjs b/.github/scripts/check-pr-security.mjs
index dd2ea53f..2361b2bf 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/check-pr-security.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/check-pr-security.mjs
@@ -243,10 +243,14 @@ export async function syncDraftAdvisory(fetchImpl, token, repo, prNumber, prTitl
   });
 }
 
+// Cap pagination so a large backlog of unrelated draft advisories cannot stall
+// the security gate (it runs inside a 5-minute workflow timeout).
+const MAX_DRAFT_ADVISORY_PAGES = 20;
+
 export async function findExistingDraftAdvisory(fetchImpl, token, repo, prNumber) {
   const prMarker = `PR #${prNumber}`;
 
-  for (let page = 1; ; page += 1) {
+  for (let page = 1; page <= MAX_DRAFT_ADVISORY_PAGES; page += 1) {
     const advisories = await fetchImpl(
       `/repos/${repo}/security-advisories?state=draft&per_page=100&page=${page}`,
       token,
@@ -261,6 +265,12 @@ export async function findExistingDraftAdvisory(fetchImpl, token, repo, prNumber
 
     if (advisories.length < 100) return null;
   }
+
+  console.warn(
+    `[security] findExistingDraftAdvisory: hit ${MAX_DRAFT_ADVISORY_PAGES}-page cap without finding PR #${prNumber}; ` +
+    'treating as new advisory. A duplicate draft may be created.',
+  );
+  return null;
 }
 
 export async function postSecurityCheckRun(fetchImpl, token, repo, headSha, hasFlags) {
@@ -296,7 +306,29 @@ export async function postSecurityCheckRun(fetchImpl, token, repo, headSha, hasF
 
 // ── Main ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+// Wall-clock budget for the whole script. The workflow job has a 5-minute
+// timeout-minutes, and `continue-on-error: true` on a step does NOT override
+// a job-level timeout — it only suppresses step failures. So if any API call
+// (e.g. security-advisories POST/PATCH) hangs, the whole job is cancelled,
+// failing the `review` check. This watchdog enforces the script's documented
+// "always exit 0" contract regardless of API behaviour.
+export const SCRIPT_WATCHDOG_MS = 90_000;
+
+export function startScriptWatchdog(timeoutMs = SCRIPT_WATCHDOG_MS, exit = process.exit) {
+  const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+    console.warn(
+      `[security] script exceeded ${timeoutMs}ms wall-clock budget; exiting 0 per always-exit-0 contract`
+    );
+    exit(0);
+  }, timeoutMs);
+  // Don't keep the event loop alive solely for the watchdog.
+  timer.unref?.();
+  return timer;
+}
+
 async function main() {
+  const watchdog = startScriptWatchdog();
+
   const { GH_TOKEN, GH_REPO, PR_NUMBER } = process.env;
 
   if (!GH_TOKEN || !GH_REPO || !PR_NUMBER) {
@@ -352,6 +384,7 @@ async function main() {
   }
 
   // Always exit 0 — security flags are silent, never block the PR publicly
+  clearTimeout(watchdog);
   process.exit(0);
 }
 
diff --git a/.github/scripts/get-bot-token.mjs b/.github/scripts/get-bot-token.mjs
index 7c6ac05c..52bf9f9b 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/get-bot-token.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/get-bot-token.mjs
@@ -25,19 +25,38 @@ export function generateJWT(privateKey) {
   return `${data}.${sig}`;
 }
 
+// Per-call timeout so a single slow/hung GitHub endpoint cannot eat the entire
+// workflow budget. Overridable via options.timeoutMs for callers that need
+// different bounds.
+export const GH_FETCH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 15_000;
+
 export async function ghFetch(path, token, options = {}) {
-  const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com${path}`, {
-    ...options,
-    headers: {
-      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
-      Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
-      'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
-      ...options.headers,
-    },
-  });
-  const text = await res.text();
-  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`GitHub API ${options.method ?? 'GET'} ${path} → ${res.status}: ${text}`);
-  return JSON.parse(text);
+  const { timeoutMs = GH_FETCH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS, signal: externalSignal, ...fetchOptions } = options;
+  const controller = new AbortController();
+  const timer = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(new Error(`ghFetch timeout after ${timeoutMs}ms: ${path}`)), timeoutMs);
+  const abortOnExternal = () => controller.abort(externalSignal?.reason);
+  if (externalSignal) {
+    if (externalSignal.aborted) abortOnExternal();
+    else externalSignal.addEventListener('abort', abortOnExternal, { once: true });
+  }
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(`https://api.github.com${path}`, {
+      ...fetchOptions,
+      signal: controller.signal,
+      headers: {
+        Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
+        Accept: 'application/vnd.github+json',
+        'X-GitHub-Api-Version': '2022-11-28',
+        ...fetchOptions.headers,
+      },
+    });
+    const text = await res.text();
+    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`GitHub API ${fetchOptions.method ?? 'GET'} ${path} → ${res.status}: ${text}`);
+    return JSON.parse(text);
+  } finally {
+    clearTimeout(timer);
+    if (externalSignal) externalSignal.removeEventListener('abort', abortOnExternal);
+  }
 }
 
 export async function resolveInstallationId(fetchInstallation, token, repo, owner) {
diff --git a/.github/scripts/tests/check-pr-security.test.mjs b/.github/scripts/tests/check-pr-security.test.mjs
index 26667750..637e2c50 100644
--- a/.github/scripts/tests/check-pr-security.test.mjs
+++ b/.github/scripts/tests/check-pr-security.test.mjs
@@ -10,9 +10,11 @@ import {
   scanSupplyChain,
   scanTestPatterns,
   scanSensitivePaths,
+  startScriptWatchdog,
   syncDraftAdvisory,
   validateSensitivePaths,
 } from '../check-pr-security.mjs';
+import { ghFetch } from '../get-bot-token.mjs';
 
 // ── scanSecrets ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -143,6 +145,19 @@ test('findExistingDraftAdvisory: returns null when no matching draft advisory ex
   assert.equal(advisory, null);
 });
 
+test('findExistingDraftAdvisory: bails out at the page cap so a large backlog cannot hang the workflow', async () => {
+  let pageCount = 0;
+  const fakeFetch = async () => {
+    pageCount += 1;
+    return Array.from({ length: 100 }, (_, i) => ({ summary: `Unrelated advisory ${pageCount}-${i}` }));
+  };
+
+  const advisory = await findExistingDraftAdvisory(fakeFetch, 'token', 'paperclipai/paperclip', 6469);
+
+  assert.equal(advisory, null);
+  assert.equal(pageCount, 20, `expected pagination to run exactly 20 pages (the cap), got ${pageCount}`);
+});
+
 test('syncDraftAdvisory: patches an existing advisory with the latest flags', async () => {
   const calls = [];
   const flags = [
@@ -318,3 +333,48 @@ test('scanSensitivePaths: ignores removed files even on sensitive paths', () =>
   const files = [{ filename: 'server/src/routes/agents.ts', status: 'removed' }];
   assert.equal(scanSensitivePaths(files).length, 0);
 });
+
+// ── startScriptWatchdog ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('startScriptWatchdog: fires exit(0) when the wall-clock budget is exceeded', async () => {
+  let exitCode = null;
+  const fakeExit = (code) => { exitCode = code; };
+  startScriptWatchdog(20, fakeExit);
+  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 60));
+  assert.equal(exitCode, 0, 'watchdog should have exited with code 0 by now');
+});
+
+test('startScriptWatchdog: cleared timer never fires', async () => {
+  let exitCode = null;
+  const fakeExit = (code) => { exitCode = code; };
+  const timer = startScriptWatchdog(20, fakeExit);
+  clearTimeout(timer);
+  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 60));
+  assert.equal(exitCode, null, 'cleared watchdog must not call exit');
+});
+
+// ── ghFetch timeout ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+test('ghFetch: aborts the request when the per-call timeout elapses', async () => {
+  const originalFetch = globalThis.fetch;
+  // Replace global fetch with one that respects the AbortSignal but never resolves on its own.
+  globalThis.fetch = (_url, init) => new Promise((_resolve, reject) => {
+    init?.signal?.addEventListener('abort', () => {
+      const err = new Error('aborted');
+      err.name = 'AbortError';
+      reject(err);
+    }, { once: true });
+  });
+
+  try {
+    const start = Date.now();
+    await assert.rejects(
+      ghFetch('/repos/example/example/security-advisories', 'token', { timeoutMs: 30 }),
+      /aborted|abort/i,
+    );
+    const elapsed = Date.now() - start;
+    assert.ok(elapsed < 500, `ghFetch should abort within the timeout, took ${elapsed}ms`);
+  } finally {
+    globalThis.fetch = originalFetch;
+  }
+});
diff --git a/.github/workflows/commitperclip-review.yml b/.github/workflows/commitperclip-review.yml
index 222f75ea..c24205ff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/commitperclip-review.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/commitperclip-review.yml
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run security gates
         run: node .github/scripts/check-pr-security.mjs
+        continue-on-error: true
+        timeout-minutes: 3
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.token.outputs.value }}
           GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}