diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/awk.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/awk.rs
index cf326f64..1ade947a 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/awk.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/awk.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use regex::Regex;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
+
+use super::search_common::build_regex;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
@@ -686,7 +688,7 @@ impl<'a> AwkParser<'a> {
                 if c == '/' {
                     let pattern = &self.input[start..self.pos];
                     self.pos += 1;
-                    let regex = Regex::new(pattern)
+                    let regex = build_regex(pattern)
                         .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("awk: invalid regex: {}", e)))?;
                     return Ok(Some(AwkPattern::Regex(regex)));
                 } else if c == '\\' {
@@ -2162,7 +2164,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
     fn eval_expr_as_bool(&mut self, expr: &AwkExpr) -> bool {
         if let AwkExpr::Regex(pattern) = expr {
             let line = self.state.get_field(0).as_string();
-            if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(pattern) {
+            if let Ok(re) = build_regex(pattern) {
                 return re.is_match(&line);
             }
             return false;
@@ -2236,7 +2238,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
                         AwkValue::Number(if lb || rb { 1.0 } else { 0.0 })
                     }
                     "~" => {
-                        if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(&r.as_string()) {
+                        if let Ok(re) = build_regex(&r.as_string()) {
                             AwkValue::Number(if re.is_match(&l.as_string()) {
                                 1.0
                             } else {
@@ -2247,7 +2249,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
                         }
                     }
                     "!~" => {
-                        if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(&r.as_string()) {
+                        if let Ok(re) = build_regex(&r.as_string()) {
                             AwkValue::Number(if !re.is_match(&l.as_string()) {
                                 1.0
                             } else {
@@ -2363,7 +2365,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
             }
             AwkExpr::Match(expr, pattern) => {
                 let s = self.eval_expr(expr).as_string();
-                if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(pattern) {
+                if let Ok(re) = build_regex(pattern) {
                     AwkValue::Number(if re.is_match(&s) { 1.0 } else { 0.0 })
                 } else {
                     AwkValue::Number(0.0)
@@ -2514,7 +2516,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
 
                 let target = self.eval_expr(&target_expr).as_string();
 
-                if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(&pattern) {
+                if let Ok(re) = build_regex(&pattern) {
                     let (result, count) = if name == "gsub" {
                         let count = re.find_iter(&target).count();
                         (
@@ -2600,7 +2602,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
                 } else {
                     None
                 };
-                if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(&pattern) {
+                if let Ok(re) = build_regex(&pattern) {
                     if let Some(caps) = re.captures(&s) {
                         let m = caps.get(0).unwrap();
                         let rstart = m.start() + 1; // awk is 1-indexed
@@ -2648,7 +2650,7 @@ impl AwkInterpreter {
                 } else {
                     self.state.get_field(0).as_string()
                 };
-                if let Ok(re) = Regex::new(&pattern) {
+                if let Ok(re) = build_regex(&pattern) {
                     if how == "g" || how == "G" {
                         AwkValue::String(re.replace_all(&target, replacement.as_str()).to_string())
                     } else {
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/grep.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/grep.rs
index b1838ea8..d51c6848 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/grep.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/grep.rs
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@
 //!   grep --line-buffered pattern # line-buffered (no-op)
 
 use async_trait::async_trait;
-use regex::{Regex, RegexBuilder};
+use regex::Regex;
 
-use super::search_common::parse_numeric_flag_arg;
+use super::search_common::{build_regex_opts, parse_numeric_flag_arg};
 use super::{Builtin, Context};
 use crate::error::{Error, Result};
 use crate::interpreter::ExecResult;
@@ -295,9 +295,7 @@ impl GrepOptions {
             combined
         };
 
-        RegexBuilder::new(&final_pattern)
-            .case_insensitive(self.ignore_case)
-            .build()
+        build_regex_opts(&final_pattern, self.ignore_case)
             .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("grep: invalid pattern: {}", e)))
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/search_common.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/search_common.rs
index 4966a17e..dff82e27 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/search_common.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/search_common.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,29 @@ use regex::{Regex, RegexBuilder};
 use crate::error::{Error, Result};
 use crate::fs::FileSystem;
 
+/// Default compiled-regex size limit (1 MB).
+pub(crate) const REGEX_SIZE_LIMIT: usize = 1_000_000;
+
+/// Default DFA size limit (1 MB).
+pub(crate) const REGEX_DFA_SIZE_LIMIT: usize = 1_000_000;
+
+/// Build a regex with enforced size limits.
+pub(crate) fn build_regex(pattern: &str) -> std::result::Result<Regex, regex::Error> {
+    build_regex_opts(pattern, false)
+}
+
+/// Build a regex with enforced size limits and optional case-insensitivity.
+pub(crate) fn build_regex_opts(
+    pattern: &str,
+    case_insensitive: bool,
+) -> std::result::Result<Regex, regex::Error> {
+    RegexBuilder::new(pattern)
+        .case_insensitive(case_insensitive)
+        .size_limit(REGEX_SIZE_LIMIT)
+        .dfa_size_limit(REGEX_DFA_SIZE_LIMIT)
+        .build()
+}
+
 /// Recursively collect all files under the given directories in the VFS.
 ///
 /// Returns sorted list of file paths (directories are traversed but not included).
@@ -60,9 +83,7 @@ pub(crate) fn build_search_regex(
         pat
     };
 
-    RegexBuilder::new(&pat)
-        .case_insensitive(ignore_case)
-        .build()
+    build_regex_opts(&pat, ignore_case)
         .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("{}: invalid pattern: {}", cmd_name, e)))
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/sed.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/sed.rs
index 0dac0794..e60a674e 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/sed.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/sed.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 #![allow(clippy::unwrap_used)]
 
 use async_trait::async_trait;
-use regex::{Regex, RegexBuilder};
+use regex::Regex;
+
+use super::search_common::{build_regex, build_regex_opts};
 
 use super::{Builtin, Context, read_text_file};
 use crate::error::{Error, Result};
@@ -341,7 +343,7 @@ fn parse_address(s: &str) -> Result<(Option<Address>, &str)> {
                     Error::Execution("sed: unterminated address regex".to_string())
                 })?;
                 let pattern = &after_slash[..end2];
-                let regex = Regex::new(pattern)
+                let regex = build_regex(pattern)
                     .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("sed: invalid regex: {}", e)))?;
                 if num == 0 {
                     return Ok((Some(Address::ZeroRegex(regex)), &after_slash[end2 + 1..]));
@@ -377,7 +379,7 @@ fn parse_address(s: &str) -> Result<(Option<Address>, &str)> {
             .find('/')
             .ok_or_else(|| Error::Execution("sed: unterminated address regex".to_string()))?;
         let pattern = &s[1..end + 1];
-        let regex = Regex::new(pattern)
+        let regex = build_regex(pattern)
             .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("sed: invalid regex: {}", e)))?;
         let rest = &s[end + 2..];
 
@@ -398,7 +400,7 @@ fn parse_address(s: &str) -> Result<(Option<Address>, &str)> {
                     Error::Execution("sed: unterminated address regex".to_string())
                 })?;
                 let pattern2 = &after_slash[..end2];
-                let regex2 = Regex::new(pattern2)
+                let regex2 = build_regex(pattern2)
                     .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("sed: invalid regex: {}", e)))?;
                 return Ok((
                     Some(Address::RegexRange(regex, regex2)),
@@ -496,9 +498,7 @@ fn parse_sed_command(s: &str, extended_regex: bool) -> Result<(Option<Address>,
             };
             // Build regex with optional case-insensitive flag
             let case_insensitive = flags.contains('i');
-            let regex = RegexBuilder::new(&pattern)
-                .case_insensitive(case_insensitive)
-                .build()
+            let regex = build_regex_opts(&pattern, case_insensitive)
                 .map_err(|e| Error::Execution(format!("sed: invalid pattern: {}", e)))?;
 
             // Convert sed replacement syntax to regex replacement syntax
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/tests/regex_limit_tests.rs b/crates/bashkit/tests/regex_limit_tests.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f435846
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/bashkit/tests/regex_limit_tests.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+//! Regex size limit tests for grep, sed, and awk builtins
+//!
+//! Verifies that oversized regex patterns are rejected rather than causing
+//! resource exhaustion (issue #984).
+
+use bashkit::Bash;
+use std::time::Duration;
+
+/// Helper: generate a large alternation pattern like "1|2|3|...|N"
+fn huge_alternation_pattern(n: usize) -> String {
+    (1..=n).map(|i| i.to_string()).collect::<Vec<_>>().join("|")
+}
+
+fn test_bash() -> Bash {
+    Bash::builder()
+        .limits(bashkit::ExecutionLimits::new().timeout(Duration::from_secs(10)))
+        .build()
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn grep_rejects_huge_regex() {
+    let mut bash = test_bash();
+    let pattern = huge_alternation_pattern(50_000);
+    let script = format!("echo test | grep '{}'", pattern);
+    match bash.exec(&script).await {
+        Ok(result) => {
+            assert_ne!(result.exit_code, 0, "grep should fail with oversized regex");
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            let msg = e.to_string();
+            assert!(
+                msg.contains("size limit") || msg.contains("invalid pattern"),
+                "error should mention size limit, got: {}",
+                msg
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn grep_accepts_normal_regex() {
+    let mut bash = Bash::new();
+    let result = bash
+        .exec("echo 'hello world' | grep 'hello'")
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(result.exit_code, 0);
+    assert_eq!(result.stdout.trim(), "hello world");
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn sed_rejects_huge_regex() {
+    let mut bash = test_bash();
+    let pattern = huge_alternation_pattern(50_000);
+    let script = format!("echo test | sed 's/{}/replaced/'", pattern);
+    match bash.exec(&script).await {
+        Ok(result) => {
+            // sed error propagates through pipeline — the key security
+            // property is it completes quickly without resource exhaustion.
+            // Depending on how the interpreter handles pipeline errors,
+            // exit code may or may not be non-zero.
+            assert!(
+                result.exit_code != 0 || result.stdout.trim() == "test",
+                "sed should either fail or pass input through with oversized regex, \
+                 exit={}, stdout='{}'",
+                result.exit_code,
+                result.stdout.trim()
+            );
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            let msg = e.to_string();
+            assert!(
+                msg.contains("size limit") || msg.contains("invalid"),
+                "error should mention size limit, got: {}",
+                msg
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn awk_rejects_huge_regex_in_match() {
+    let mut bash = test_bash();
+    let pattern = huge_alternation_pattern(50_000);
+    let script = format!(
+        "echo test | awk '{{ if (match($0, \"{}\" )) print }}'",
+        pattern
+    );
+    match bash.exec(&script).await {
+        Ok(result) => {
+            // awk silently handles invalid regex in match() — the key security
+            // property is it completes quickly without resource exhaustion.
+            assert!(
+                result.stdout.trim().is_empty() || result.exit_code != 0,
+                "awk should not match with oversized regex, \
+                 exit={}, stdout='{}'",
+                result.exit_code,
+                result.stdout.trim()
+            );
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            let msg = e.to_string();
+            assert!(
+                msg.contains("size limit") || msg.contains("invalid"),
+                "error should mention size limit, got: {}",
+                msg
+            );
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/regex-limit.test.sh b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/regex-limit.test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..93661823
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/regex-limit.test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# Regex size/complexity limit tests
+
+### grep_normal_regex_works
+# Normal regex should work fine
+echo "hello world" | grep "hello"
+### expect
+hello world
+### end