diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml
index 438951ee3fa..a884aedc636 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml
@@ -23,14 +23,20 @@ jobs:
     timeout-minutes: 2
     steps:
       # Why no checkout: the Files API already has per-file additions/deletions.
+      # Why the default branch and never pull/<n>/head: this job holds a write-scoped
+      # GITHUB_TOKEN, so it may only execute reviewed code. A PR that edits these
+      # scripts takes effect once merged.
       - name: Count test vs non-test LoC
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          TRUSTED_REF: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}
         run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
           for script in pr-test-loc-table.mjs pr-test-loc-summary.mjs; do
-            gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/contents/.github/scripts/${script}?ref=pull/${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}/head" \
+            gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/contents/.github/scripts/${script}?ref=${TRUSTED_REF}" \
               --jq .content | base64 --decode > "$RUNNER_TEMP/${script}"
           done
-          node "$RUNNER_TEMP/pr-test-loc-summary.mjs" --update-pr "${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}"
+          node "$RUNNER_TEMP/pr-test-loc-summary.mjs" --update-pr "$PR_NUMBER"
diff --git a/config/scripts/pr-test-loc-summary.test.mjs b/config/scripts/pr-test-loc-summary.test.mjs
index 715b918bb32..14801ddc85d 100644
--- a/config/scripts/pr-test-loc-summary.test.mjs
+++ b/config/scripts/pr-test-loc-summary.test.mjs
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ import {
 
 const projectDir = resolve(import.meta.dirname, '../..')
 const locScript = join(projectDir, '.github/scripts/pr-test-loc-summary.mjs')
+const locWorkflow = parse(
+  readFileSync(join(projectDir, '.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml'), 'utf8')
+)
+const locJob = locWorkflow.jobs.loc
+const locStep = locJob.steps[0]
 const tempDirs = []
 
 function runLoc(args, { env } = {}) {
@@ -178,20 +183,36 @@ describe('PR test LoC summary', () => {
   })
 
   it('is a no-checkout GitHub-hosted PR workflow', () => {
-    const workflow = parse(
-      readFileSync(join(projectDir, '.github/workflows/pr-test-loc.yml'), 'utf8')
-    )
-    const locJob = workflow.jobs.loc
-    const serialized = JSON.stringify(workflow)
-
     expect(locJob['runs-on']).toBe('ubuntu-latest')
     expect(locJob.steps).toHaveLength(1)
-    expect(locJob.steps[0].run).toContain('gh api')
-    expect(locJob.steps[0].run).toContain('pr-test-loc-table.mjs')
-    expect(locJob.steps[0].run).toContain('pr-test-loc-summary.mjs')
-    expect(locJob.steps[0].run).toContain('--update-pr')
-    expect(workflow.permissions['pull-requests']).toBe('write')
-    expect(serialized).not.toContain('actions/checkout')
-    expect(serialized).not.toContain('self-hosted')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('gh api')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('pr-test-loc-table.mjs')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('pr-test-loc-summary.mjs')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('--update-pr')
+    expect(locWorkflow.permissions['pull-requests']).toBe('write')
+    expect(JSON.stringify(locWorkflow)).not.toContain('actions/checkout')
+    expect(JSON.stringify(locWorkflow)).not.toContain('self-hosted')
+  })
+
+  // The write-scoped GITHUB_TOKEN makes any PR-authored code a privilege escalation.
+  it('executes only default-branch script code, never pull-request head code', () => {
+    const serialized = JSON.stringify(locWorkflow)
+
+    expect(locStep.env.TRUSTED_REF).toBe('${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('?ref=${TRUSTED_REF}')
+    expect(serialized).not.toContain('pull_request_target')
+    expect(serialized).not.toContain('pull/')
+    expect(serialized).not.toContain('pull_request.head')
+    expect(serialized).not.toContain('/merge')
+  })
+
+  it('passes event data through env instead of interpolating it into the shell', () => {
+    expect(locStep.env.PR_NUMBER).toBe('${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}')
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('--update-pr "$PR_NUMBER"')
+    expect(locStep.run).not.toContain('${{')
+  })
+
+  it('fails the step when a script download fails instead of running a truncated file', () => {
+    expect(locStep.run).toContain('set -euo pipefail')
   })
 })