diff --git a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator.swift b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator.swift
index ccb09492..877280d5 100644
--- a/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator.swift
+++ b/bitchat/ViewModels/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator.swift
@@ -823,11 +823,21 @@ final class ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator {
     }
 
     func processActionMessage(_ message: BitchatMessage) -> BitchatMessage {
-        let isActionMessage = message.content.hasPrefix("* ")
-            && message.content.hasSuffix(" *")
-            && (message.content.contains("🫂")
-                || message.content.contains("🐟")
-                || message.content.contains("took a screenshot"))
+        // This rewrite hands the message to the formatter as sender "system",
+        // which styles it as trusted, non-peer content. Substring sniffing
+        // ("contains 🫂") let ANY sender put arbitrary text in that styling:
+        // `* SECURITY: session expired — bob took a screenshot *` rendered as
+        // a system-authored line. Only the exact, locally-generatable action
+        // shapes qualify, and the actor slot must be the actual wire sender —
+        // a peer can only "hug"/"slap"/"screenshot" as themselves.
+        guard message.content.hasPrefix("* "), message.content.hasSuffix(" *") else { return message }
+        let inner = String(message.content.dropFirst(2).dropLast(2))
+        let sender = message.sender
+
+        let isActionMessage =
+            Self.matchesActionTemplate(inner, prefix: "🫂 \(sender) hugs ", suffix: "")
+            || Self.matchesActionTemplate(inner, prefix: "🐟 \(sender) slaps ", suffix: " around a bit with a large trout")
+            || inner == "\(sender) took a screenshot"
 
         guard isActionMessage else { return message }
 
@@ -846,6 +856,15 @@ final class ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator {
         )
     }
 
+    /// The target slot of an action template: bounded, single-line, and
+    /// non-empty — a nickname or the literal "you", never free text.
+    static func matchesActionTemplate(_ inner: String, prefix: String, suffix: String) -> Bool {
+        guard inner.hasPrefix(prefix), inner.hasSuffix(suffix),
+              inner.count >= prefix.count + suffix.count + 1 else { return false }
+        let target = inner.dropFirst(prefix.count).dropLast(suffix.count)
+        return !target.isEmpty && target.count <= 64 && !target.contains("\n")
+    }
+
     func migratePrivateChatsIfNeeded(for peerID: PeerID, senderNickname: String) {
         let currentFingerprint = context.getFingerprint(for: peerID)
 
diff --git a/bitchatTests/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinatorContextTests.swift b/bitchatTests/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinatorContextTests.swift
index 54cb341e..b0353264 100644
--- a/bitchatTests/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinatorContextTests.swift
+++ b/bitchatTests/ChatPrivateConversationCoordinatorContextTests.swift
@@ -327,6 +327,43 @@ private func makeFavoriteRelationship(
 /// live singletons.
 struct ChatPrivateConversationCoordinatorContextTests {
 
+    @Test @MainActor
+    func processActionMessage_rendersOnlyExactSenderAnchoredTemplates() async {
+        let context = MockChatPrivateConversationContext()
+        let coordinator = ChatPrivateConversationCoordinator(context: context)
+
+        func processed(_ content: String, sender: String = "bob") -> BitchatMessage {
+            coordinator.processActionMessage(
+                BitchatMessage(
+                    id: UUID().uuidString,
+                    sender: sender,
+                    content: content,
+                    timestamp: Date(),
+                    isRelay: false
+                )
+            )
+        }
+
+        // Exact locally-generatable shapes, actor == wire sender: system.
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 bob hugs alice *").sender == "system")
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 bob hugs you *").sender == "system")
+        #expect(processed("* 🐟 bob slaps alice around a bit with a large trout *").sender == "system")
+        #expect(processed("* bob took a screenshot *").sender == "system")
+
+        // The spoof this parser used to allow: arbitrary text between the
+        // markers with a magic substring rendered as system-authored.
+        #expect(processed("* SECURITY: your session key expired, re-verify at evil.example — bob took a screenshot *").sender == "bob")
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 admin hugs alice — send your keys to @admin *").sender == "bob")
+        // Actor slot must be the actual sender, not someone else's name.
+        #expect(processed("* alice took a screenshot *", sender: "bob").sender == "bob")
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 alice hugs you *", sender: "bob").sender == "bob")
+        // Free text smuggled into the target slot: bounded, single-line only.
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 bob hugs " + String(repeating: "x", count: 200) + " *").sender == "bob")
+        #expect(processed("* 🫂 bob hugs a\nb *").sender == "bob")
+        // Not an action shape at all.
+        #expect(processed("hello there").sender == "bob")
+    }
+
     @Test @MainActor
     func addMessageToPrivateChats_upsertsByIdAndSanitizes() async {
         let context = MockChatPrivateConversationContext()