diff --git a/.jules/sentinel.md b/.jules/sentinel.md
index 343036e..e441857 100644
--- a/.jules/sentinel.md
+++ b/.jules/sentinel.md
@@ -143,3 +143,8 @@ grep -nE "O_NOFOLLOW|O_CLOEXEC|fchmod|withUnsafeFileSystemRepresentation" <candi
 **Vulnerability:** Calling `open(2)` with raw Swift `String` paths in `StatusSocket.swift` creates an unsafe filesystem representation.
 **Learning:** Passing Swift `String` paths implicitly to C functions can result in memory issues or incorrect path resolution if the string is not null-terminated or is moved in memory.
 **Prevention:** Always use `URL(fileURLWithPath:).withUnsafeFileSystemRepresentation` to obtain the correct C-string pointer when bridging file paths to POSIX APIs.
+
+## 2026-05-04 - Unsafe Path Bridging via String implicitly cast to C-String
+**Vulnerability:** Calling `fchmodat` passing a raw Swift `String` path (`socketPath`).
+**Learning:** Passing Swift `String` paths implicitly to C functions can result in memory issues or incorrect path resolution because it does not guarantee null-termination or stable memory lifetime across the C function call.
+**Prevention:** Always use `URL(fileURLWithPath:).withUnsafeFileSystemRepresentation` to safely obtain a stable C-string pointer when bridging file paths to POSIX APIs.
diff --git a/Sources/Cacheout/Headless/StatusSocket.swift b/Sources/Cacheout/Headless/StatusSocket.swift
index 8cd6661..966eebc 100644
--- a/Sources/Cacheout/Headless/StatusSocket.swift
+++ b/Sources/Cacheout/Headless/StatusSocket.swift
@@ -184,7 +184,10 @@ public final class StatusSocket: @unchecked Sendable {
         }
         if (sockStat.st_mode & 0o777) != 0o600 {
             // umask should have set 0600; defense-in-depth chmod via no-follow.
-            _ = fchmodat(AT_FDCWD, socketPath, 0o600, AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)
+            URL(fileURLWithPath: socketPath).withUnsafeFileSystemRepresentation { pathPtr in
+                guard let pathPtr = pathPtr else { return }
+                _ = fchmodat(AT_FDCWD, pathPtr, 0o600, AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)
+            }
         }
 
         // Listen