diff --git a/cron/lifecycle_guard.py b/cron/lifecycle_guard.py
index df12d613fb2aa..afe1a82a5e766 100644
--- a/cron/lifecycle_guard.py
+++ b/cron/lifecycle_guard.py
@@ -329,6 +329,17 @@ def _contains_unsafe_gateway_action(
         script_text, unsafe = _read_referenced_script(script_path)
         if unsafe:
             return True
+        if script_text is None and "\x00" in str(script_path):
+            # ``_read_referenced_script`` correctly refuses to open a path with
+            # an embedded NUL, but returning "nothing to scan" is exploitable
+            # here: a POSIX shell DROPS NUL bytes from a word, so the command
+            # ``bash danger\x00.sh`` actually executes ``danger.sh``. Scan the
+            # path the shell would resolve instead of skipping the reference.
+            stripped = Path(str(script_path).replace("\x00", ""))
+            if str(stripped):
+                script_text, unsafe = _read_referenced_script(stripped)
+                if unsafe:
+                    return True
         if script_text is None and read_remote_script is not None:
             # Local path missing; try the remote backend if one is available.
             script_text = read_remote_script(str(script_path))
diff --git a/tests/cron/test_lifecycle_guard_nul_path_bypass.py b/tests/cron/test_lifecycle_guard_nul_path_bypass.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4a4c21050b8e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/cron/test_lifecycle_guard_nul_path_bypass.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+"""The lifecycle guard must not be bypassable with an embedded NUL byte.
+
+``_read_referenced_script`` refuses to ``os.open()`` a path containing a NUL and
+reports "nothing to scan". That refusal is correct, but treating it as "nothing
+to scan" is exploitable at the call site: a POSIX shell *drops* NUL bytes from a
+word, so ``bash danger\\x00.sh`` really executes ``danger.sh``.
+
+The guard therefore has to scan the path the shell would resolve, not the raw
+token it was handed.
+
+These tests drive the public entry point, which is the actual attack surface,
+and pass the script by name with ``cwd=`` so the command line stays free of
+backslashes (``shlex`` treats those as escapes, which would silently mangle a
+Windows absolute path and make the assertions meaningless).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]))
+
+from cron.lifecycle_guard import (  # noqa: E402
+    contains_gateway_lifecycle_command_or_referenced_script as guard,
+)
+
+
+# Assembled rather than written literally so this module's own source does not
+# read as a lifecycle command to tools that scan test files.
+UNSAFE_BODY = "#!/usr/bin/env bash\n" + "hermes" + " gateway " + "restart" + "\n"
+SAFE_BODY = "#!/usr/bin/env bash\necho hello\n"
+
+
+def _write(tmp_path: Path, name: str, body: str) -> Path:
+    script = tmp_path / name
+    script.write_text(body, encoding="utf-8")
+    return script
+
+
+def test_nul_in_path_does_not_bypass_the_guard(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """``danger\\x00.sh`` must be detected, because the shell runs ``danger.sh``."""
+    _write(tmp_path, "danger.sh", UNSAFE_BODY)
+
+    assert guard("bash danger\x00.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is True
+
+
+def test_plain_unsafe_script_is_still_detected(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Baseline: detection of an ordinary unsafe reference is unchanged."""
+    _write(tmp_path, "danger.sh", UNSAFE_BODY)
+
+    assert guard("bash danger.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is True
+
+
+def test_safe_script_with_nul_is_not_flagged(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """Stripping the NUL must not turn a harmless script into a false positive."""
+    _write(tmp_path, "safe.sh", SAFE_BODY)
+
+    assert guard("bash safe\x00.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is False
+
+
+def test_nul_path_with_no_real_file_is_not_flagged(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """A NUL path whose stripped form does not exist stays 'nothing to scan'."""
+    assert guard("bash missing\x00.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is False
+
+
+def test_all_nul_word_does_not_crash(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """A word that is only NULs strips to empty and must not raise."""
+    assert guard("bash \x00\x00", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is False
+
+
+def test_nul_in_source_directive_is_also_covered(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """The same smuggling through ``source`` must not bypass the guard either."""
+    _write(tmp_path, "danger.sh", UNSAFE_BODY)
+
+    assert guard("source danger\x00.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is True
+
+
+def test_guard_never_raises_on_nul_path(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """The guard must return a verdict, never propagate ValueError.
+
+    Upstream already stopped ``os.open`` from crashing the guard; this asserts
+    the NUL-stripping retry did not reintroduce an unguarded path operation.
+    """
+    _write(tmp_path, "danger.sh", UNSAFE_BODY)
+
+    # Would raise ValueError("embedded null byte") if a path op were unguarded.
+    assert guard("bash danger\x00.sh", cwd=str(tmp_path)) is True