diff --git a/include/common/hpack-tbl.h b/include/common/hpack-tbl.h
index 5de9d20..824c400 100644
--- a/include/common/hpack-tbl.h
+++ b/include/common/hpack-tbl.h
@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@
 	return &dht->dte[idx];
 }
 
+/* returns non-zero if <idx> is valid for table <dht> */
+static inline int hpack_valid_idx(const struct hpack_dht *dht, uint16_t idx)
+{
+	return idx < dht->used + HPACK_SHT_SIZE;
+}
+
 /* return a pointer to the header name for entry <dte>. */
 static inline struct ist hpack_get_name(const struct hpack_dht *dht, const struct hpack_dte *dte)
 {
diff --git a/src/hpack-dec.c b/src/hpack-dec.c
index 1a776bc..0515d01 100644
--- a/src/hpack-dec.c
+++ b/src/hpack-dec.c
@@ -177,6 +177,11 @@
 				goto leave;
 			}
 
+			if (!hpack_valid_idx(dht, idx)) {
+				ret = -HPACK_ERR_TOO_LARGE;
+				goto leave;
+			}
+
 			value = hpack_alloc_string(tmp, idx, hpack_idx_to_value(dht, idx));
 			if (!value.ptr) {
 				ret = -HPACK_ERR_TOO_LARGE;
@@ -316,6 +321,11 @@
 				goto leave;
 			}
 
+			if (!hpack_valid_idx(dht, idx)) {
+				ret = -HPACK_ERR_TOO_LARGE;
+				goto leave;
+			}
+
 			/* retrieve value */
 			huff = *raw & 0x80;
 			vlen = get_var_int(&raw, &len, 7);