diff --git a/src/chirp/audio_feedback.py b/src/chirp/audio_feedback.py
index 45ca0a4..44dd6b8 100644
--- a/src/chirp/audio_feedback.py
+++ b/src/chirp/audio_feedback.py
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
     winsound = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
 
 
+MAX_AUDIO_FILE_SIZE_BYTES = 5 * 1024 * 1024  # 5MB
+
+
 class AudioFeedback:
     def __init__(
         self,
@@ -130,6 +133,20 @@ def _play_sound(self, asset_name: str, override_path: Optional[str]) -> None:
             self._logger.exception("Failed to play sound %s: %s", asset_name, exc)
 
     def _load_and_cache(self, path: Path, key: str) -> Any:
+        try:
+            file_size = path.stat().st_size
+            if file_size > MAX_AUDIO_FILE_SIZE_BYTES:
+                self._logger.warning(
+                    "Audio file %s is too large (%d bytes). Max allowed: %d bytes.",
+                    path,
+                    file_size,
+                    MAX_AUDIO_FILE_SIZE_BYTES,
+                )
+                return None
+        except OSError as exc:
+            self._logger.warning("Could not stat audio file %s: %s", path, exc)
+            return None
+
         if self._use_sounddevice:
             # Load as numpy array for volume-controlled playback via sounddevice
             with wave.open(str(path), "rb") as wf:
diff --git a/tests/test_audio_feedback.py b/tests/test_audio_feedback.py
index c656333..9d0fb15 100644
--- a/tests/test_audio_feedback.py
+++ b/tests/test_audio_feedback.py
@@ -43,13 +43,17 @@ def test_play_with_sounddevice_called(self, mock_sd):
             af._load_and_cache.assert_called_once()
             af._play_cached.assert_called_once_with("data")
 
+    @patch("pathlib.Path.stat")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.sd")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.np")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.wave")
-    def test_load_and_cache_sounddevice(self, mock_wave, mock_np, mock_sd):
+    def test_load_and_cache_sounddevice(self, mock_wave, mock_np, mock_sd, mock_stat):
         """_load_and_cache should read WAV and cache data."""
         af = AudioFeedback(logger=self.mock_logger, enabled=True)
 
+        # Mock valid file size
+        mock_stat.return_value.st_size = 1024
+
         # Setup wave mock
         mock_wf = MagicMock()
         mock_wave.open.return_value.__enter__.return_value = mock_wf
@@ -81,14 +85,18 @@ def test_play_cached_sounddevice(self, mock_sd):
         af._play_cached(mock_data)
         mock_sd.play.assert_called_with(mock_data[0], 44100)
 
+    @patch("pathlib.Path.stat")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.sd")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.np")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.wave")
     @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.winsound", None)
-    def test_load_and_cache_with_volume_scaling(self, mock_wave, mock_np, mock_sd):
+    def test_load_and_cache_with_volume_scaling(self, mock_wave, mock_np, mock_sd, mock_stat):
         """_load_and_cache should scale audio when volume < 1.0."""
         import numpy as np
 
+        # Mock valid file size
+        mock_stat.return_value.st_size = 1024
+
         # Create real numpy array for testing
         mock_np.int16 = np.int16
         mock_np.float32 = np.float32
diff --git a/tests/test_audio_security.py b/tests/test_audio_security.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59cd560
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_audio_security.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import logging
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+# Need to patch sys.modules before importing chirp.audio_feedback to mock imports if needed,
+# but since the module handles ImportError, we can just patch the imported names.
+
+from chirp.audio_feedback import AudioFeedback
+
+class TestAudioFeedbackSecurity(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.mock_logger = MagicMock(spec=logging.Logger)
+
+    @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.np")
+    @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.sd", new=MagicMock())
+    @patch("chirp.audio_feedback.winsound", None)
+    @patch("pathlib.Path.stat")
+    def test_load_large_file_fails(self, mock_stat, mock_np):
+        """_load_and_cache should return None if file is too large (>5MB)."""
+        af = AudioFeedback(logger=self.mock_logger, enabled=True)
+
+        # Mock file size to be slightly larger than 5MB (5 * 1024 * 1024 + 1)
+        mock_stat.return_value.st_size = 5 * 1024 * 1024 + 1
+
+        # We need to mock wave.open so it doesn't actually try to open a file
+        # if the check fails (or if it doesn't fail yet)
+        with patch("chirp.audio_feedback.wave") as mock_wave:
+            # Setup mock to behave "normally" if called
+            mock_wf = MagicMock()
+            mock_wave.open.return_value.__enter__.return_value = mock_wf
+            mock_wf.getframerate.return_value = 44100
+            mock_wf.getnchannels.return_value = 1
+            mock_wf.readframes.return_value = b"\x00" * 100
+            mock_wf.getnframes.return_value = 50
+
+            # Mock numpy behavior to avoid errors if the code proceeds
+            mock_np.frombuffer.return_value = MagicMock()
+
+            result = af._load_and_cache(Path("/fake/large_file.wav"), "key")
+
+            # This assertion should fail until the fix is implemented
+            self.assertIsNone(result, "Should return None for files larger than 5MB")
+
+            # Verify a warning was logged
+            self.mock_logger.warning.assert_called()
+            # Check if the warning message contains expected text
+            args, _ = self.mock_logger.warning.call_args
+            self.assertIn("too large", args[0])
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()