diff --git a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/mod.rs b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/mod.rs
index b9e1747ef..3d898fe89 100644
--- a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/mod.rs
+++ b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/mod.rs
@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@ pub async fn analyze(
 ) -> Result<impl Responder, Error> {
     ei_service.runtime().ok_or(Error::Unavailable)?;
 
+    let vulnerability_id = body.vulnerability_id.trim();
+    if vulnerability_id.is_empty() {
+        return Err(Error::BadRequest(
+            "vulnerability_id must not be empty".into(),
+        ));
+    }
+
     let tx = db_rw.begin().await?;
 
     let sbom = sbom::Entity::find()
@@ -87,7 +94,7 @@ pub async fn analyze(
     }
 
     match ei_service
-        .create_job(body.sbom_id, &body.vulnerability_id, &tx)
+        .create_job(body.sbom_id, vulnerability_id, &tx)
         .await
     {
         Ok(job) => {
@@ -101,7 +108,7 @@ pub async fn analyze(
             drop(tx);
             let ro_tx = db_ro.begin().await?;
             let active = ei_service
-                .find_active_job(body.sbom_id, &body.vulnerability_id, &ro_tx)
+                .find_active_job(body.sbom_id, vulnerability_id, &ro_tx)
                 .await?;
             match active {
                 Some(job) => Ok(HttpResponse::Ok().json(AnalyzeResponse {
diff --git a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/test.rs b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/test.rs
index 0c9c1cd94..d7eced0ce 100644
--- a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/test.rs
+++ b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/endpoints/test.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use sea_orm::{ActiveModelTrait, Set, TransactionTrait};
 use test_context::test_context;
 use test_log::test;
 use time::OffsetDateTime;
-use trustify_common::{db, model::PaginatedResults};
+use trustify_common::{db, error::ErrorInformation, model::PaginatedResults};
 use trustify_entity::{
     exploit_intelligence_job::{self, ExploitIntelligenceFinding, ExploitIntelligenceJobStatus},
     exploit_intelligence_job_component,
@@ -743,6 +743,49 @@ async fn analyze_sbom_not_found(ctx: &TrustifyContext) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Verifies that POSTing an analyze request with an empty or whitespace-only
+/// vulnerability_id returns 400 Bad Request.
+#[test_context(TrustifyContext)]
+#[test(actix_web::test)]
+async fn analyze_rejects_blank_vulnerability_id(ctx: &TrustifyContext) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+    let ei_service = test_service();
+    let db_rw = db::ReadWrite::new(ctx.db.clone());
+    let db_ro = db::ReadOnly::new(ctx.db.clone());
+
+    let app = test::init_service(
+        App::new()
+            .add_test_authorizer()
+            .app_data(web::Data::new(db_rw))
+            .app_data(web::Data::new(db_ro))
+            .app_data(web::Data::new(ei_service))
+            .service(super::analyze),
+    )
+    .await;
+
+    for blank in ["", "   "] {
+        let req = TestRequest::post()
+            .uri("/v3/exploit-intelligence/analyze")
+            .set_json(AnalyzeRequest {
+                sbom_id: Uuid::now_v7(),
+                vulnerability_id: blank.to_string(),
+            })
+            .to_request();
+
+        let resp = test::call_service(&app, req).await;
+        assert_eq!(
+            resp.status(),
+            400,
+            "expected 400 for vulnerability_id={blank:?}"
+        );
+
+        let body: ErrorInformation = test::read_body_json(resp).await;
+        assert_eq!(body.error, "BadRequest");
+        assert_eq!(body.message, "vulnerability_id must not be empty");
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// Verifies that POSTing an analyze request when Exploit Intelligence is not
 /// configured returns 503 Service Unavailable.
 #[test_context(TrustifyContext)]
diff --git a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/error.rs b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/error.rs
index 3ba66e908..392e78bbe 100644
--- a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/error.rs
+++ b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/error.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ use trustify_common::{
 pub enum Error {
     #[error("unavailable")]
     Unavailable,
+    #[error("bad request: {0}")]
+    BadRequest(String),
     #[error("not found: {0}")]
     NotFound(String),
     #[error("database error: {0}")]
@@ -57,6 +59,9 @@ impl ResponseError for Error {
             Self::Unavailable => {
                 HttpResponse::ServiceUnavailable().json(ErrorInformation::new("Unavailable", self))
             }
+            Self::BadRequest(msg) => {
+                HttpResponse::BadRequest().json(ErrorInformation::new("BadRequest", msg))
+            }
             Self::NotFound(msg) => {
                 HttpResponse::NotFound().json(ErrorInformation::new("NotFound", msg))
             }
diff --git a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/runner/mod.rs b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/runner/mod.rs
index b706c56cc..e07f790e9 100644
--- a/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/runner/mod.rs
+++ b/modules/exploit-intelligence/src/runner/mod.rs
@@ -65,9 +65,10 @@ impl From<crate::Error> for AnalysisError {
     fn from(e: crate::Error) -> Self {
         match &e {
             crate::Error::Database(_) | crate::Error::Any(_) => Self::Retryable(e.into()),
-            crate::Error::Unavailable | crate::Error::NotFound(_) | crate::Error::Query(_) => {
-                Self::Permanent(e.into())
-            }
+            crate::Error::Unavailable
+            | crate::Error::BadRequest(_)
+            | crate::Error::NotFound(_)
+            | crate::Error::Query(_) => Self::Permanent(e.into()),
         }
     }
 }