Security: define and test safe handling of untrusted env configuration

[Vaishnav88sk]

Problem

Environment-driven configuration can become an attack or misconfiguration surface if accepted values are not clearly constrained or validated.

Proposal

Identify a minimal set of sensitive or externally controlled environment variables, then:

• Document expected validation / sanitization behavior
• Define accepted formats or ranges where applicable
• Add tests covering malformed, unsafe, or unexpected values
• Preserve compatibility for valid existing configurations

Acceptance criteria

• Documented behavior for selected environment variables
• Tests for malformed or unsafe values
• No behavior break for valid existing configs

Contribution

I’d be happy to work on this issue and contribute a PR if this approach sounds good.