diff --git a/app/api/plugin-approval-status/__tests__/route.test.ts b/app/api/plugin-approval-status/__tests__/route.test.ts
index 7d0ba7970..c7c16374c 100644
--- a/app/api/plugin-approval-status/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/app/api/plugin-approval-status/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ vi.mock('@/lib/stalwart/auth-context', () => ({
 }));
 vi.mock('@/lib/security/same-origin', () => ({ rejectCrossOriginRequest: () => null }));
 
+let features: Record<string, boolean> = {};
+vi.mock('@/lib/admin/config-manager', () => ({
+  configManager: { ensureLoaded: async () => {}, getPolicy: () => ({ features }) },
+}));
+
 let currentUser = 'alice@example.org';
 const entries: Array<Record<string, unknown>> = [];
 const bundles = new Map<string, Uint8Array>();
@@ -55,6 +60,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   entries.length = 0;
   bundles.clear();
   currentUser = 'alice@example.org';
+  features = { pluginsEnabled: true, pluginsUploadEnabled: true, requirePluginApproval: true };
 });
 
 describe('POST /api/plugin-approval-status', () => {
@@ -87,6 +93,19 @@ describe('POST /api/plugin-approval-status', () => {
     expect(entries).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    ['plugins are off', { pluginsEnabled: false }],
+    ['user plugins are off', { pluginsUploadEnabled: false }],
+    ['approval is not required', { requirePluginApproval: false }],
+  ])('takes no package while %s', async (_label, off) => {
+    features = { ...features, ...off };
+    const res = await submit(await zipOf(MANIFEST));
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(403);
+    expect(entries).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(bundles.size).toBe(0);
+  });
+
   it('limits how many requests one user can have open', async () => {
     for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
       expect((await submit(await zipOf({ ...MANIFEST, id: `p-${i}x` }))).status).toBe(200);
diff --git a/app/api/plugin-approval-status/route.ts b/app/api/plugin-approval-status/route.ts
index 8d8374651..91504efb5 100644
--- a/app/api/plugin-approval-status/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/plugin-approval-status/route.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
 import { rejectCrossOriginRequest } from '@/lib/security/same-origin';
+import { configManager } from '@/lib/admin/config-manager';
 import { cookies } from 'next/headers';
 import { decryptSession } from '@/lib/auth/crypto';
 import { sessionCookieName } from '@/lib/auth/session-cookie';
@@ -75,6 +76,15 @@ export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
     const username = await resolveUsername();
     if (!username) return NextResponse.json({ error: 'unauthenticated' }, { status: 401 });
 
+    // Only take packages while users may install their own plugins and
+    // those need review (GHSA-qc44-275p-gqw9): otherwise nobody asked for
+    // the queue, and every request still stores a ZIP on disk.
+    await configManager.ensureLoaded();
+    const { features } = configManager.getPolicy();
+    if (!features.pluginsEnabled || !features.pluginsUploadEnabled || !features.requirePluginApproval) {
+      return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Plugin approval requests are turned off' }, { status: 403 });
+    }
+
     // The request carries the package itself. The admin reviews the code
     // and manifest the server read from it, and the approval is pinned to
     // the hash the server computed, not to anything the client claims.