diff --git a/app/geodata/download.go b/app/geodata/download.go
index e24e3e4fd..11218e7fa 100644
--- a/app/geodata/download.go
+++ b/app/geodata/download.go
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ import (
 
 const idleTimeout = 30 * time.Second
 
+// DO NOT EDIT. Ignored by geodata, rejected by Lua.
+const luaGuardHeader = "\x12\x01\x00"
+
 type stage struct {
 	target string
 	temp   string
@@ -170,6 +173,10 @@ func (d *downloader) downloadOne(asset *Asset) (stage, error) {
 		}
 	}()
 
+	if _, err := temp.WriteString(luaGuardHeader); err != nil {
+		temp.Close()
+		return stage{}, err
+	}
 	if err := d.fetch(asset.Url, temp); err != nil {
 		temp.Close()
 		return stage{}, err
diff --git a/app/geodata/download_test.go b/app/geodata/download_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32b9fa61c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/geodata/download_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package geodata
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	commongeodata "github.com/xtls/xray-core/common/geodata"
+	xlua "github.com/xtls/xray-core/common/lua"
+	"github.com/yuin/gopher-lua/parse"
+	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
+)
+
+func TestDownloadOneLuaGuard(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name string
+		body string
+		code string
+	}{
+		{"geodata", "\x0a\x03\x0a\x01A", "A"},
+		{"prefixed geodata", luaGuardHeader + "\x0a\x03\x0a\x01A", "A"},
+		{"Lua", "function HandleRoute() end", ""},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			dir := t.TempDir()
+			t.Setenv("xray.location.asset", dir)
+			if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "asset.lua"), nil, 0o600); err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+				_, _ = w.Write([]byte(tc.body))
+			}))
+			defer server.Close()
+			d := &downloader{ctx: context.Background(), httpClient: server.Client()}
+			staged, err := d.downloadOne(&Asset{Url: server.URL, File: "asset.lua"})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatal(err)
+			}
+			data, err := os.ReadFile(staged.temp)
+			if err != nil || string(data) != luaGuardHeader+tc.body {
+				t.Fatalf("downloaded data = % x, %v", data, err)
+			}
+			program, err := xlua.Compile(staged.temp)
+			var syntaxErr *parse.Error
+			if program != nil || !errors.As(err, &syntaxErr) || syntaxErr.Pos.Line != 1 || syntaxErr.Pos.Column != 1 {
+				t.Fatalf("want Lua rejection at the first byte, got %v, %v", program, err)
+			}
+			if tc.code != "" {
+				var list commongeodata.GeoSiteList
+				if err := proto.Unmarshal(data, &list); err != nil {
+					t.Fatal(err)
+				}
+				if len(list.Entry) != 1 || list.Entry[0].Code != tc.code {
+					t.Fatalf("header changed geodata: %v", &list)
+				}
+				if _, err := commongeodata.ParseDomainRules([]string{"ext:" + filepath.Base(staged.temp) + ":" + tc.code}, commongeodata.Domain_Full); err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("geodata loader rejected the header: %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/common/lua/geodata_security_watchdog_test.go b/common/lua/geodata_security_watchdog_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07e9b991c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lua/geodata_security_watchdog_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+// DO NOT EDIT. Regression test for app/geodata's luaGuardHeader.
+
+package lua
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/yuin/gopher-lua/parse"
+)
+
+func TestGeodataLuaGuard(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := parse.Parse(strings.NewReader("\x12\x01\x00function HandleRoute() end"), "geodata")
+	var syntaxErr *parse.Error
+	if !errors.As(err, &syntaxErr) || syntaxErr.Pos.Line != 1 || syntaxErr.Pos.Column != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("want Lua rejection at the first byte, got %v", err)
+	}
+}