diff --git a/src/deploy/test_hive_snapshot_unit_contract.sh b/src/deploy/test_hive_snapshot_unit_contract.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e2ce561ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/deploy/test_hive_snapshot_unit_contract.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# hive-snapshot.service must not execute code out of a directory a local user
+# could have planted (#5483, same class as #5435).
+# Run: bash src/deploy/test_hive_snapshot_unit_contract.sh
+#
+# WHAT THE BUG WAS. The unit ran:
+#
+#     User=dev
+#     ExecStart=/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh
+#
+# so the executed script resolved out of a world-writable parent that is
+# CLEARED ON REBOOT. /tmp's sticky bit only stops a user from deleting or
+# renaming entries owned by someone else; it does not stop them creating
+# /tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh in the window between the boot that
+# wipes /tmp and hive-deploy repopulating the checkout. When
+# hive-snapshot.timer next fired, the winner of that race got code execution
+# as `dev` — and the real script reads the GitHub App token from
+# /var/run/hive-metrics/gh-app-token.cache, so the planted code runs with a
+# path to that credential.
+#
+# WHY THIS TEST RUNS THE GUARD INSTEAD OF ONLY GREPPING THE UNIT. A grep for
+# "ExecStartPre" would pass against a guard that never rejects anything —
+# exactly the no-op-guard failure #5398 found in another contract test. So
+# besides pinning the unit's directives, this EXECUTES bin/hive-checkout-guard.sh
+# with the unit's actual arguments against real directory trees and asserts on
+# its EXIT STATUS. The exhaustive per-attack-shape matrix already lives in
+# src/deploy/test_hive_discord_unit_contract.sh; this test re-runs the shapes
+# specific to THIS unit: the entrypoint is the executed script itself (shipped
+# mode 755), so the writable-file check — not the exec-bit — is the live one.
+set -uo pipefail
+
+PASS=0
+FAIL=0
+pass() { echo "  PASS: $1"; PASS=$((PASS + 1)); }
+fail() { echo "  FAIL: $1"; [ $# -gt 1 ] && echo "        $2"; FAIL=$((FAIL + 1)); }
+
+ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
+UNIT="${ROOT}/systemd/hive-snapshot.service"
+GUARD="${ROOT}/bin/hive-checkout-guard.sh"
+
+echo "=== hive-snapshot.service does not execute planted code (#5483) ==="
+
+for f in "$UNIT" "$GUARD"; do
+  if [ ! -f "$f" ]; then
+    fail "locate $f" "the layout moved — this test cannot verify anything"
+    echo ""
+    echo "=== Results: $PASS passed, $FAIL failed ==="
+    exit 1
+  fi
+done
+
+WORK="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$WORK"' EXIT
+
+# --- the unit wires the guard in ---------------------------------------------
+echo ""
+echo "--- the unit file ---"
+
+GUARD_LINE="$(grep -E '^ExecStartPre=' "$UNIT" || true)"
+if [ -z "$GUARD_LINE" ]; then
+  fail "hive-snapshot.service has an ExecStartPre guard" \
+       "without one, systemd executes whatever publish-snapshot.sh is present when the timer fires"
+else
+  pass "hive-snapshot.service has an ExecStartPre guard"
+  if printf '%s' "$GUARD_LINE" | grep -q 'hive-checkout-guard.sh'; then
+    pass "the guard is hive-checkout-guard.sh (exit status is the assertion)"
+  else
+    fail "the guard is hive-checkout-guard.sh" "got: ${GUARD_LINE}"
+  fi
+  # The guard must be told the exact file ExecStart runs. ExecStart here is an
+  # absolute path; the guard takes <dir> <basename>, so both derived parts must
+  # appear in the guard invocation or it validates something else entirely.
+  EXEC_PATH="$(grep -E '^ExecStart=' "$UNIT" | head -1 | cut -d= -f2-)"
+  EXEC_DIR="$(dirname "$EXEC_PATH")"
+  EXEC_FILE="$(basename "$EXEC_PATH")"
+  if printf '%s' "$GUARD_LINE" | grep -qF -- "$EXEC_DIR" && \
+     printf '%s' "$GUARD_LINE" | grep -qF -- "$EXEC_FILE"; then
+    pass "the guard checks the directory and file ExecStart actually runs (${EXEC_PATH})"
+  else
+    fail "the guard checks the directory and file ExecStart runs (${EXEC_PATH})" "got: ${GUARD_LINE}"
+  fi
+fi
+
+# PrivateTmp would give the unit a private /tmp, hiding the very checkout
+# ExecStart points at — the unit could never start. Asserting its ABSENCE keeps
+# a future "more hardening is better" edit from silently breaking snapshots.
+if grep -qE '^PrivateTmp=(yes|true|1)' "$UNIT"; then
+  fail "PrivateTmp is not set on this unit" \
+       "ExecStart is under /tmp; a private /tmp hides the checkout and the unit cannot start"
+else
+  pass "PrivateTmp is not set (it would hide the /tmp checkout this unit runs from)"
+fi
+
+for d in NoNewPrivileges ProtectSystem; do
+  if grep -qE "^${d}=" "$UNIT"; then
+    pass "${d} is set"
+  else
+    fail "${d} is set" "unit lost a hardening directive"
+  fi
+done
+
+# ProtectSystem=strict would make /tmp read-only for the service, and the
+# script builds the snapshot under /tmp. Same trap as PrivateTmp.
+if grep -qE '^ProtectSystem=strict' "$UNIT"; then
+  fail "ProtectSystem is not 'strict'" "strict mounts /tmp read-only; this unit builds under /tmp"
+else
+  pass "ProtectSystem is not 'strict' (which would make the /tmp checkout read-only)"
+fi
+
+# --- the guard, run with this unit's argument shape ---------------------------
+echo ""
+echo "--- the guard, run against real trees ---"
+
+# Build a tree shaped like the real one: a sticky world-writable ancestor
+# standing in for /tmp, with the checkout underneath it and the entrypoint
+# shipped exactly as git ships it — an executable 755 script.
+#   $WORK/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh
+mk_tree() {
+  rm -rf "${WORK}/tmp"
+  mkdir -p "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard"
+  chmod 1777 "${WORK}/tmp"
+  chmod 755 "${WORK}/tmp/hive" "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard"
+  : > "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+  chmod 755 "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+}
+
+expect() {
+  local want="$1" label="$2"
+  local out rc
+  out="$(bash "$GUARD" "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard" publish-snapshot.sh 2>&1)"
+  rc=$?
+  if [ "$rc" -eq "$want" ]; then
+    if [ "$want" -eq 0 ]; then
+      pass "${label}: guard allows startup (rc=0)"
+    else
+      pass "${label}: guard REFUSES startup (rc=${rc})"
+    fi
+  else
+    fail "${label}: expected rc=${want}, got rc=${rc}" "${out}"
+  fi
+}
+
+# The good state: a healthy checkout with the script at its shipped 755 mode.
+# If this fails the guard is too strict and snapshots stop on a healthy host.
+mk_tree
+expect 0 "healthy checkout under a sticky /tmp (script mode 755)"
+
+# THE VULNERABILITY, reproduced: /tmp wiped by a reboot, checkout not yet
+# restored. Before this fix, the next timer fire ran whatever was there.
+mk_tree
+rm -rf "${WORK}/tmp/hive"
+mkdir -p "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard"
+: > "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+chmod 777 "${WORK}/tmp/hive" "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard"
+chmod 755 "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+expect 1 "post-reboot window, attacker-shaped world-writable checkout (the #5483 race)"
+
+# The entrypoint is a 755 SCRIPT, so unlike bot.js the writable-file check is
+# the one that matters here: a group/world-writable script can be rewritten in
+# place between guard check and the next timer fire.
+mk_tree
+chmod 775 "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+expect 1 "publish-snapshot.sh is group-writable"
+
+mk_tree
+chmod 777 "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+expect 1 "publish-snapshot.sh is world-writable"
+
+# A symlinked entrypoint redirects an otherwise-clean path at attacker code.
+mk_tree
+rm -f "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+: > "${WORK}/evil.sh"
+chmod 755 "${WORK}/evil.sh"
+ln -s "${WORK}/evil.sh" "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh"
+expect 1 "publish-snapshot.sh is a symlink"
+
+# Missing checkout is a refusal, not a skip.
+mk_tree
+rm -rf "${WORK}/tmp/hive/dashboard"
+expect 1 "the checkout directory does not exist"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Results: $PASS passed, $FAIL failed ==="
+[ "$FAIL" -eq 0 ]
diff --git a/systemd/hive-snapshot.service b/systemd/hive-snapshot.service
index 7f12774bb..fc2145972 100644
--- a/systemd/hive-snapshot.service
+++ b/systemd/hive-snapshot.service
@@ -9,7 +9,40 @@ User=dev
 Environment=PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
 Environment=HIVE_DASHBOARD_URL=http://localhost:3001
 Environment=DOCS_REPO_DIR=/tmp/kubestellar-docs-snapshot
+# Refuse to start unless the checkout we execute from is owned by this service
+# user and is not group/other-writable (#5483, same class as #5435).
+#
+# WHY THIS GUARD EXISTS. ExecStart resolves out of /tmp/hive, a predictable
+# path under a world-writable parent that is CLEARED ON REBOOT. /tmp's sticky
+# bit only stops a user from deleting or renaming entries owned by someone
+# ELSE — it does not stop them CREATING /tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh
+# in the window after a reboot wipes /tmp and before hive-deploy repopulates
+# the checkout. When hive-snapshot.timer next fires, systemd would run that
+# file as `dev`, and the script it replaces reads the GitHub App token from
+# /var/run/hive-metrics/gh-app-token.cache — so the planted code runs with a
+# path to that credential.
+#
+# The path stays under /tmp deliberately: the literal /tmp/hive checkout
+# location is shared with bin/hive.sh, bin/kick-agents.sh and hive-deploy;
+# relocating it is a deploy-layout change, not a fix to this unit. The guard
+# closes the code-execution path without moving anything. See
+# bin/hive-checkout-guard.sh for why this is a script whose EXIT STATUS is the
+# assertion rather than an inline `find` (which exits 0 even on no match).
+#
+# Test with: bash src/deploy/test_hive_snapshot_unit_contract.sh
+ExecStartPre=/usr/local/bin/hive-checkout-guard.sh /tmp/hive/dashboard publish-snapshot.sh
 ExecStart=/tmp/hive/dashboard/publish-snapshot.sh
 TimeoutStartSec=120
+# Hardening (mirrors hive-discord.service, #5481). PrivateTmp is deliberately
+# NOT set: it would give this unit a private /tmp namespace, hiding the very
+# checkout ExecStart points at, and the unit could not start. Likewise
+# ProtectSystem must not be 'strict' — strict mounts /tmp read-only and the
+# script builds the snapshot under /tmp. ProtectHome=read-only still lets
+# git/gh read ~/.gitconfig while blocking writes outside /tmp and /var.
+NoNewPrivileges=yes
+ProtectSystem=full
+ProtectHome=read-only
+PrivateDevices=yes
+RestrictSUIDSGID=yes
 StandardOutput=journal
 StandardError=journal