diff --git a/Dockerfile.base b/Dockerfile.base
index d8736652581..4d90f594e83 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.base
+++ b/Dockerfile.base
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         python3-venv=3.11.2-1+b1 \
         curl=7.88.1-10+deb12u14 \
         git=1:2.39.5-0+deb12u3 \
+        gnupg=2.2.40-1.1+deb12u2 \
         ca-certificates=20230311+deb12u1 \
         iproute2=6.1.0-3 \
         iptables=1.8.9-2 \
diff --git a/scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh b/scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh
index 4d875917c0e..ea3e7687fec 100755
--- a/scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh
+++ b/scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh
@@ -84,12 +84,14 @@ done
 if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
   install -d -o sandbox -g sandbox -m 755 \
     /tmp/.npm-cache /tmp/.cache /tmp/.config /tmp/.local/share \
-    /tmp/.local/state /tmp/.runtime /tmp/.gnupg /tmp/.claude \
+    /tmp/.local/state /tmp/.runtime /tmp/.claude \
     /tmp/npm-global
+  install -d -o sandbox -g sandbox -m 700 /tmp/.gnupg
 else
   mkdir -p /tmp/.npm-cache /tmp/.cache /tmp/.config /tmp/.local/share \
-    /tmp/.local/state /tmp/.runtime /tmp/.gnupg /tmp/.claude \
+    /tmp/.local/state /tmp/.runtime /tmp/.claude \
     /tmp/npm-global
+  install -d -m 700 /tmp/.gnupg
 fi
 
 # ── Drop unnecessary Linux capabilities ──────────────────────────
diff --git a/test/service-env.test.ts b/test/service-env.test.ts
index d58c4d1eab5..8b19f875f23 100644
--- a/test/service-env.test.ts
+++ b/test/service-env.test.ts
@@ -189,9 +189,15 @@ describe("service environment", () => {
       expect(src).toContain("/tmp/.config");
       expect(src).toContain("/tmp/.cache");
       expect(src).toContain("/tmp/.local/share");
-      expect(src).toContain("/tmp/.gnupg");
       expect(src).toContain("/tmp/npm-global");
     });
+
+    it("entrypoint creates GNUPGHOME with restrictive permissions", () => {
+      const scriptPath = join(import.meta.dirname, "../scripts/nemoclaw-start.sh");
+      const src = readFileSync(scriptPath, "utf-8");
+      expect(src).toContain("install -d -o sandbox -g sandbox -m 700 /tmp/.gnupg");
+      expect(src).toContain("install -d -m 700 /tmp/.gnupg");
+    });
   });
 
   describe("proxy environment variables (issue #626)", () => {