diff --git a/docs/storage-admission.md b/docs/storage-admission.md
index 24d586c1e..e1956c72f 100644
--- a/docs/storage-admission.md
+++ b/docs/storage-admission.md
@@ -70,6 +70,22 @@ history pruning, and payload cleanup do not start a new pass under pressure.
 
 ## Deployment Requirements
 
+### Admission observation file
+
+Publish the observation as a regular file owned by root or the Server's
+effective UID, with group and other write permissions disabled (for example,
+`0644` or `0600`). For containers, use the ownership as seen inside the Server
+container. Keep the collector's atomic replacement in the same trusted directory
+and preserve those owner and mode requirements on every replacement.
+
+Every parent directory must be controlled by root or the Server's user and must
+not be writable by untrusted users. Avoid symlinked parent components. A private
+directory such as `/run/durable-workflow` is suitable when provisioned with that
+ownership and access policy. The native reader refuses a symlink in the final
+component and checks the opened file descriptor; it does not establish trust in
+the ancestor directories. File checks cannot protect an operator-selected path
+whose parent can be replaced by another user.
+
 ### External Completion Payloads
 
 When discovery advertises `upload.completion_context`, a worker may retry a
diff --git a/rust/src/runtime/storage_admission.rs b/rust/src/runtime/storage_admission.rs
index 36787294f..81cd87295 100644
--- a/rust/src/runtime/storage_admission.rs
+++ b/rust/src/runtime/storage_admission.rs
@@ -117,7 +117,8 @@ fn read(settings: &Settings, now: i64) -> Snapshot {
     if !(1..=300).contains(&settings.max_age_seconds) {
         return Snapshot::UNAVAILABLE;
     }
-    let Some(value) = observation(path) else {
+    // The observation must come from root or this process's effective user.
+    let Some(value) = observation(path, unsafe { libc::geteuid() }) else {
         return Snapshot::UNAVAILABLE;
     };
     let state = match value.get("state").and_then(Value::as_str) {
@@ -146,16 +147,19 @@ fn read(settings: &Settings, now: i64) -> Snapshot {
     }
 }
 
-/// A bounded regular file, never a FIFO, device or symlink, nor one another
-/// user could replace. The final path component is opened without following
+/// A bounded regular file owned by root or the reader, never a FIFO, device
+/// or symlink, nor writable by another user. Trusted parent directories remain
+/// an operator requirement. The final path component is opened without following
 /// a symlink and without blocking on a FIFO, and every check is made on that
 /// same descriptor, so nothing can be swapped in between a check and the read.
-fn observation(path: &str) -> Option<Value> {
+fn observation(path: &str, reader_uid: u32) -> Option<Value> {
     use std::os::unix::fs::OpenOptionsExt;
     let mut file = std::fs::OpenOptions::new().read(true)
         .custom_flags(libc::O_NOFOLLOW | libc::O_NONBLOCK | libc::O_CLOEXEC).open(path).ok()?;
     let opened = file.metadata().ok()?;
-    if !opened.file_type().is_file() || opened.len() > MAX_BYTES || opened.mode() & 0o022 != 0 {
+    if !opened.file_type().is_file() || opened.len() > MAX_BYTES || opened.mode() & 0o022 != 0
+        || (opened.uid() != 0 && opened.uid() != reader_uid)
+    {
         return None;
     }
     let mut bytes = Vec::with_capacity(MAX_BYTES as usize);
@@ -338,6 +342,40 @@ mod tests {
         unavailable(&Settings { max_age_seconds: 301, ..base.clone() });
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn observation_owner_must_be_root_or_the_reader() {
+        let directory = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let path = directory.path().join("pressure.json");
+        let path_text = path.to_str().unwrap();
+        let reader_uid = unsafe { libc::geteuid() };
+        write(&path, &record("normal", NOW, "{}"));
+        assert!(read(&settings(&path), NOW).accepts_new_work());
+
+        if reader_uid == 0 {
+            // In the privileged container, exercise a real foreign-owned
+            // descriptor through the production snapshot path as well.
+            std::os::unix::fs::chown(&path, Some(65534), None).unwrap();
+            assert_eq!(read(&settings(&path), NOW), Snapshot::UNAVAILABLE);
+        }
+        let owner_uid = std::fs::metadata(&path).unwrap().uid();
+        assert_ne!(owner_uid, 0);
+        // This also exercises the descriptor policy on unprivileged runners,
+        // without requiring permission to change an inode's owner.
+        let other_uid = if owner_uid == 1 { 2 } else { 1 };
+        assert!(observation(path_text, owner_uid).is_some());
+        assert!(observation(path_text, other_uid).is_none());
+
+        if reader_uid == 0 {
+            std::os::unix::fs::chown(&path, Some(0), None).unwrap();
+            // A root-owned observation is trusted by a non-root reader too.
+            assert!(observation(path_text, other_uid).is_some());
+            assert!(read(&settings(&path), NOW).accepts_new_work());
+        }
+        // Atomic producer replacement restores the actual reader's ownership.
+        write(&path, &record("draining", NOW, "{}"));
+        assert_eq!(read(&settings(&path), NOW).state, State::Draining);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn routes_follow_php_s_admission_classes() {
         for (method, path, expected) in [