diff --git a/backend/src/__tests__/errorHandling.test.ts b/backend/src/__tests__/errorHandling.test.ts
index 991fde07..ca0dffb7 100644
--- a/backend/src/__tests__/errorHandling.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/__tests__/errorHandling.test.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,25 @@ describe('Centralized Error Handling', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('Request Payload Size Limit', () => {
+    it('should return 413 when payload exceeds the configured limit', async () => {
+      // Create a payload larger than 100kb
+      const largePayload = {
+        data: 'x'.repeat(1024 * 150), // 150kb string
+      };
+
+      const response = await request(app)
+        .post('/api/simulate')
+        .set('Authorization', authHeader)
+        .send(largePayload);
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(413);
+      expect(response.body.success).toBe(false);
+      expect(response.body.error.code).toBe('VALIDATION_ERROR');
+      expect(response.body.error.message).toMatch(/payload too large/i);
+    });
+  });
+
   /* ── Consistent JSON structure ────────────────────────────── */
 
   describe('Response structure consistency', () => {
diff --git a/backend/src/app.ts b/backend/src/app.ts
index 141faa31..e8259f85 100644
--- a/backend/src/app.ts
+++ b/backend/src/app.ts
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ const corsOptions: cors.CorsOptions = {
 
 app.use(cors(corsOptions));
 app.use(compression());
-app.use(express.json());
+// Explicit request body size limit set to 100kb to mitigate payload-based DoS and unbounded audit log writes.
+app.use(express.json({ limit: '100kb' }));
 app.use(globalRateLimiter);
 app.use(requestIdMiddleware);
 app.use(requestLogger);
diff --git a/backend/src/middleware/errorHandler.ts b/backend/src/middleware/errorHandler.ts
index 496c2ee2..f15f85fe 100644
--- a/backend/src/middleware/errorHandler.ts
+++ b/backend/src/middleware/errorHandler.ts
@@ -94,6 +94,19 @@ export const errorHandler = (
     return;
   }
 
+  // ── Payload Too Large (body-parser) ────────────────────────
+  if ('type' in err && (err as { type?: string }).type === 'entity.too.large') {
+    res.status(413).json({
+      success: false,
+      message: 'Request payload too large',
+      error: {
+        code: ErrorCode.VALIDATION_ERROR, // Or a dedicated code if defined
+        message: 'Request payload too large',
+      },
+    });
+    return;
+  }
+
   // ── Unexpected / Programming Errors ──────────────────────────
   logger.error('Unhandled error', {
     requestId: req.requestId,