diff --git a/lib/services/express.js b/lib/services/express.js
index 4933762d1..24f219e7e 100644
--- a/lib/services/express.js
+++ b/lib/services/express.js
@@ -177,8 +177,12 @@ const initPreParserRoutes = async (app) => {
  * @param {object} app - express application instance
  */
 const initMiddleware = (app) => {
-  // Trust proxy — required behind reverse proxies (Nginx, Traefik, LB)
-  if (config.trust && config.trust.proxy) app.set('trust proxy', true);
+  // Trust proxy — required behind reverse proxies (Nginx, Traefik, LB).
+  // Honor the configured value (a hop count like 1, a subnet, or a boolean).
+  // Forwarding the raw config avoids collapsing a bounded hop count to the
+  // fully-permissive `true`, which would let a client spoof `req.ip` via a
+  // rotating leftmost X-Forwarded-For and bypass the IP-keyed rate limiter.
+  if (config.trust && config.trust.proxy) app.set('trust proxy', config.trust.proxy);
   // Should be placed before express.static
   app.use(
     compress({
diff --git a/lib/services/tests/express.trustProxy.unit.tests.js b/lib/services/tests/express.trustProxy.unit.tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4f4c6ee16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/services/tests/express.trustProxy.unit.tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/**
+ * Module dependencies.
+ *
+ * Unit tests for express.js initMiddleware — `trust proxy` wiring.
+ * Security regression guard (#3933): the configured `trust.proxy` value (a
+ * bounded hop count, subnet, or boolean) must be forwarded verbatim to Express.
+ * The previous code collapsed any truthy value to the fully-permissive `true`,
+ * which let a client spoof `req.ip` via a rotating leftmost X-Forwarded-For and
+ * bypass the IP-keyed rate limiter (lib/middlewares/rateLimiter.js).
+ */
+import { jest, describe, test, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from '@jest/globals';
+import express from 'express';
+
+describe('express initMiddleware — honor configured trust proxy hop count (#3933):', () => {
+  let originalNodeEnv;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    originalNodeEnv = process.env.NODE_ENV;
+    jest.resetModules();
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env.NODE_ENV = originalNodeEnv;
+  });
+
+  /**
+   * Load express.js with all heavy deps mocked, then return initMiddleware.
+   * @param {*} trustProxy - value to place at config.trust.proxy
+   * @returns {Promise<Function>} The initMiddleware function from the module
+   */
+  const getInitMiddleware = async (trustProxy) => {
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../config/index.js', () => ({
+      default: {
+        domain: 'http://localhost:3000',
+        app: { title: 'Test', description: '', keywords: '', url: '', logo: '' },
+        secure: { ssl: false },
+        log: {},
+        bodyParser: {},
+        csrf: {},
+        cors: { origin: [], credentials: false, optionsSuccessStatus: 200 },
+        trust: { proxy: trustProxy },
+        openapi: { enable: false },
+        files: { routes: [], configs: [], policies: [], preRoutes: [], openapi: [], guides: [] },
+        analytics: { posthog: { autoCapture: false } },
+        docs: {},
+      },
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/services/logger.js', () => ({
+      default: {
+        warn: jest.fn(),
+        error: jest.fn(),
+        info: jest.fn(),
+        debug: jest.fn(),
+        getLogFormat: jest.fn().mockReturnValue('combined'),
+        getMorganOptions: jest.fn().mockReturnValue({}),
+      },
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/helpers/guides.js', () => ({
+      default: { loadGuides: jest.fn().mockReturnValue([]), mergeGuidesIntoSpec: jest.fn() },
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/middlewares/requestId.js', () => ({
+      default: jest.fn((req, res, next) => next()),
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/middlewares/posthog-context.middleware.js', () => ({
+      posthogContextMiddleware: jest.fn((req, res, next) => next()),
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/services/errorTracker.js', () => ({
+      default: { setupExpressErrorHandler: jest.fn() },
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/services/analytics.js', () => ({
+      default: { init: jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(undefined), identify: jest.fn(), groupIdentify: jest.fn() },
+    }));
+    jest.unstable_mockModule('../../../lib/middlewares/analytics.js', () => ({
+      default: jest.fn((req, res, next) => next()),
+    }));
+
+    const mod = await import('../express.js');
+    return mod.default.initMiddleware;
+  };
+
+  test('forwards a numeric hop count (1) to Express verbatim — not collapsed to `true`', async () => {
+    const initMiddleware = await getInitMiddleware(1);
+    const app = express();
+    initMiddleware(app);
+
+    // The configured hop count survives — the setting is 1, NOT the permissive `true`.
+    expect(app.get('trust proxy')).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  test('a single-hop trust fn trusts only the immediate proxy — spoofed leftmost XFF is not trusted', async () => {
+    const initMiddleware = await getInitMiddleware(1);
+    const app = express();
+    initMiddleware(app);
+
+    // proxy-addr compiles `1` to a trust fn that trusts hop index < 1 only.
+    // This is the behavioural difference vs the old permissive `true` (which
+    // trusted every hop, letting a client inject a spoofed leftmost XFF).
+    const trust = app.get('trust proxy fn');
+    expect(typeof trust).toBe('function');
+    expect(trust('203.0.113.7', 0)).toBe(true); // the immediate reverse proxy is trusted
+    expect(trust('203.0.113.7', 1)).toBe(false); // a further, client-controlled hop is NOT trusted
+  });
+
+  test('a boolean `true` still works (a project may opt into fully trusting the proxy chain)', async () => {
+    const initMiddleware = await getInitMiddleware(true);
+    const app = express();
+    initMiddleware(app);
+
+    expect(app.get('trust proxy')).toBe(true);
+    const trust = app.get('trust proxy fn');
+    expect(trust('203.0.113.7', 5)).toBe(true); // every hop trusted, as intended when true
+  });
+
+  test('a falsy trust.proxy leaves Express at its safe default (proxy not trusted)', async () => {
+    const initMiddleware = await getInitMiddleware(false);
+    const app = express();
+    initMiddleware(app);
+
+    // app.set('trust proxy', ...) is never called → Express default (false).
+    expect(app.get('trust proxy')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});