diff --git a/.github/workflows/govulncheck.yml b/.github/workflows/govulncheck.yml
index 6247bf1a..d7d67aca 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/govulncheck.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/govulncheck.yml
@@ -17,12 +17,15 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha || github.ref }}
-      - name: Read Go version from go.mod
-        id: go-version
-        run: echo "GO_VERSION=$(grep '^go ' go.mod | cut -d ' ' -f 2)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-      - name: Scan for Vulnerabilities in Code
-        uses: Templum/govulncheck-action@0eeca9d81f01facc00829cc99a14e44ce59ce80f # pin@1.0.2
+      
+      - name: Setup Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
-          go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}
-          package: ./...
-          fail-on-vuln: true
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+          cache: true
+      
+      - name: Run govulncheck
+        uses: golang/govulncheck-action@b625fbe08f3bccbe446d94fbf87fcc875a4f50ee # pin@1.0.4
+        with:
+          go-version-file: go.mod
+          go-package: ./...
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 0b61c02d..5c11640b 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 module github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v2
 
-go 1.23.0
+go 1.24.0
+
+toolchain go1.24.8
 
 require (
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0
@@ -12,6 +14,6 @@ require (
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/crypto v0.35.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.44.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 044dd052..30d68105 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZb
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0 h1:Xv5erBjTwe/5IxqUQTdXv5kgmIvbHo3QQyRwhJsOfJA=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.35.0 h1:b15kiHdrGCHrP6LvwaQ3c03kgNhhiMgvlhxHQhmg2Xs=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.35.0/go.mod h1:dy7dXNW32cAb/6/PRuTNsix8T+vJAqvuIy5Bli/x0YQ=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.44.0 h1:A97SsFvM3AIwEEmTBiaxPPTYpDC47w720rdiiUvgoAU=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.44.0/go.mod h1:013i+Nw79BMiQiMsOPcVCB5ZIJbYkerPrGnOa00tvmc=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.11.0 h1:GGz8+XQP4FvTTrjZPzNKTMFtSXH80RAzG+5ghFPgK9w=
 golang.org/x/sync v0.11.0/go.mod h1:Czt+wKu1gCyEFDUtn0jG5QVvpJ6rzVqr5aXyt9drQfk=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
diff --git a/validator/security.go b/validator/security.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8eebcaa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validator/security.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package validator
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var (
+	// ErrExcessiveTokenDots is returned when a token contains too many dots,
+	// which could indicate a malicious attempt to exploit CVE-2025-27144.
+	ErrExcessiveTokenDots = errors.New("token contains excessive dots (possible DoS attack)")
+)
+
+const (
+	// maxTokenDots is the maximum number of dots allowed in a JWT token.
+	// Valid formats:
+	// - JWS compact: header.payload.signature (2 dots)
+	// - JWE compact: header.key.iv.ciphertext.tag (4 dots)
+	// - JWE with multiple recipients: can have more sections
+	// We allow up to 5 dots to be safe, which covers all valid use cases.
+	maxTokenDots = 5
+)
+
+// validateTokenFormat performs pre-validation on the token string to protect
+// against CVE-2025-27144 (memory exhaustion via excessive dots).
+//
+// This is a defense-in-depth measure for v2.x which uses go-jose v2.
+// The underlying vulnerability is in go-jose v2's use of strings.Split()
+// without limits. This function rejects obviously malicious inputs before
+// they reach the vulnerable code.
+//
+// Note: This is a workaround, not a complete fix. The vulnerability is
+// fully resolved in v3.x which uses lestrrat-go/jwx.
+func validateTokenFormat(tokenString string) error {
+	// Count dots in the token
+	dotCount := strings.Count(tokenString, ".")
+	
+	if dotCount > maxTokenDots {
+		return ErrExcessiveTokenDots
+	}
+	
+	// Additional basic validation
+	if len(tokenString) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("token is empty")
+	}
+	
+	// Reject tokens that are suspiciously large (> 1MB)
+	// Valid JWTs should rarely exceed a few KB
+	if len(tokenString) > 1024*1024 {
+		return errors.New("token exceeds maximum size (1MB)")
+	}
+	
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/validator/security_test.go b/validator/security_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..482c1a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validator/security_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+package validator
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestValidateTokenFormat(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name      string
+		token     string
+		expectErr error
+	}{
+		{
+			name:      "valid JWS token (2 dots)",
+			token:     "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIn0.signature",
+			expectErr: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "valid JWE token (4 dots)",
+			token:     "header.encrypted_key.iv.ciphertext.tag",
+			expectErr: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "max allowed dots (5)",
+			token:     "a.b.c.d.e.f",
+			expectErr: nil,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "excessive dots (6) - CVE-2025-27144",
+			token:     "a.b.c.d.e.f.g",
+			expectErr: ErrExcessiveTokenDots,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "many dots (100) - CVE-2025-27144",
+			token:     strings.Repeat("a.", 100) + "z",
+			expectErr: ErrExcessiveTokenDots,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "malicious token with 10000 dots",
+			token:     strings.Repeat(".", 10000),
+			expectErr: ErrExcessiveTokenDots,
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "empty token",
+			token:     "",
+			expectErr: errors.New("token is empty"),
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "token exceeds 1MB",
+			token:     strings.Repeat("a", 1024*1024+1),
+			expectErr: errors.New("token exceeds maximum size (1MB)"),
+		},
+		{
+			name:      "token exactly 1MB (allowed)",
+			token:     "header." + strings.Repeat("a", 1024*1024-20) + ".sig",
+			expectErr: nil,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := validateTokenFormat(tt.token)
+			
+			if tt.expectErr == nil {
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("expected no error, got: %v", err)
+				}
+			} else {
+				if err == nil {
+					t.Errorf("expected error containing '%v', got nil", tt.expectErr)
+				} else if !errors.Is(err, tt.expectErr) && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), tt.expectErr.Error()) {
+					t.Errorf("expected error '%v', got '%v'", tt.expectErr, err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValidateToken_CVE_2025_27144_Protection(t *testing.T) {
+	// This test ensures the CVE-2025-27144 mitigation is in place
+	v, err := New(
+		func(_ context.Context) (interface{}, error) {
+			return []byte("secret"), nil
+		},
+		HS256,
+		"https://issuer.example.com/",
+		[]string{"audience"},
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create validator: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Test with malicious token containing excessive dots
+	maliciousToken := strings.Repeat("a.", 1000) + "z"
+	
+	_, err = v.ValidateToken(context.Background(), maliciousToken)
+	
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Error("expected error for malicious token, got nil")
+	}
+	
+	if !errors.Is(err, ErrExcessiveTokenDots) && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "excessive dots") {
+		t.Errorf("expected error about excessive dots, got: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkValidateTokenFormat(b *testing.B) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name  string
+		token string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:  "normal token",
+			token: "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIn0.signature",
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "malicious 100 dots",
+			token: strings.Repeat("a.", 100) + "z",
+		},
+		{
+			name:  "malicious 1000 dots",
+			token: strings.Repeat("a.", 1000) + "z",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		b.Run(tt.name, func(b *testing.B) {
+			for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+				_ = validateTokenFormat(tt.token)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/validator/validator.go b/validator/validator.go
index 2a302493..8fa71193 100644
--- a/validator/validator.go
+++ b/validator/validator.go
@@ -94,6 +94,13 @@ func New(
 
 // ValidateToken validates the passed in JWT using the jose v2 package.
 func (v *Validator) ValidateToken(ctx context.Context, tokenString string) (interface{}, error) {
+	// CVE-2025-27144 mitigation: Validate token format before parsing
+	// to prevent memory exhaustion from malicious tokens with excessive dots.
+	// This is a defense-in-depth measure for v2.x.
+	if err := validateTokenFormat(tokenString); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid token format: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	token, err := jwt.ParseSigned(tokenString)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not parse the token: %w", err)
diff --git a/validator/validator_test.go b/validator/validator_test.go
index 08feeb14..c97d6f07 100644
--- a/validator/validator_test.go
+++ b/validator/validator_test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func TestValidator_ValidateToken(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:  "it throws an error when it cannot parse the token",
-			token: "",
+			token: "a.b",
 			keyFunc: func(context.Context) (interface{}, error) {
 				return []byte("secret"), nil
 			},