diff --git a/backend/app/api/routes/media.py b/backend/app/api/routes/media.py
index 324664d..76baab9 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/routes/media.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/routes/media.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ raw-image uploads reuse the same endpoint.
 
 import re
 import uuid
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, HTTPException, UploadFile, status
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
@@ -37,7 +38,25 @@ _MAGIC: dict[str, tuple[bytes, ...]] = {
 MAX_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024  # 10 MB
 
 # Only ever serve/delete files we created: 32 hex chars + known extension.
-_NAME_RE = re.compile(r"^[0-9a-f]{32}\.(png|jpg|webp)$")
+_NAME_RE = re.compile(r"[0-9a-f]{32}\.(png|jpg|webp)")
+
+
+def _resolve_media_path(filename: str) -> Path:
+    """Return the existing media file named `filename`, or raise 404.
+
+    `filename` is validated against `_NAME_RE` (no separators, no `..`), then
+    matched by name against the actual directory listing. The user string is
+    only ever compared with `==` against trusted `iterdir()` entries — it never
+    builds a path — so a crafted value cannot escape the media dir.
+    """
+    if not _NAME_RE.fullmatch(filename):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, detail="Not found")
+    base = settings.media_dir()
+    if base.is_dir():
+        for entry in base.iterdir():
+            if entry.name == filename and entry.is_file():
+                return entry
+    raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, detail="Not found")
 
 
 @router.post("/upload")
@@ -72,18 +91,10 @@ async def upload_media(file: UploadFile, _user: str = Depends(get_current_user))
 
 @router.get("/{filename}")
 async def get_media(filename: str) -> FileResponse:
-    if not _NAME_RE.match(filename):
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, detail="Not found")
-    path = settings.media_dir() / filename
-    if not path.is_file():
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, detail="Not found")
-    return FileResponse(path)
+    # _resolve_media_path returns only an existing file, else raises 404.
+    return FileResponse(_resolve_media_path(filename))
 
 
 @router.delete("/{filename}", status_code=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)
 async def delete_media(filename: str, _user: str = Depends(get_current_user)) -> None:
-    if not _NAME_RE.match(filename):
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND, detail="Not found")
-    path = settings.media_dir() / filename
-    if path.is_file():
-        path.unlink()
+    _resolve_media_path(filename).unlink()
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_media.py b/backend/tests/test_media.py
index 3741eb9..f774e6d 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_media.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_media.py
@@ -79,6 +79,13 @@ async def test_get_rejects_bad_filename(client, media_dir):
     assert res.status_code == 404
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_delete_rejects_bad_filename(client, auth_headers, media_dir):
+    headers = await auth_headers()
+    res = await client.delete("/api/v1/media/..%2f..%2fetc%2fpasswd", headers=headers)
+    assert res.status_code == 404
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_delete_requires_auth_and_removes_file(client, auth_headers, media_dir):
     headers = await auth_headers()