diff --git a/dokimi/changelog.d/20261026_130000_napetrov_docker-solver-hardening.md b/dokimi/changelog.d/20261026_130000_napetrov_docker-solver-hardening.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..acc93c17f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dokimi/changelog.d/20261026_130000_napetrov_docker-solver-hardening.md
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+### Changed
+
+- **`docker-*` task containers are hardened like `repos` containers** — the
+  task container starts with `--init`, `--cap-drop ALL`, `--security-opt no-new-privileges`
+  and `--pids-limit 32768`, and gets back only `CHOWN`, `DAC_OVERRIDE` and `FOWNER`
+  (the harness's own root steps on the agent's tree) and `SETUID` and `SETGID`
+  (task scripts that drop privileges, such as apt's `_apt` sandbox). A setuid binary
+  in a task image can no longer raise its privileges. Every other capability Docker
+  grants by default is dropped, so a solve or verifier step that needs one now fails:
+  killing another user's process (`KILL`), raw sockets (`NET_RAW`), `mknod`
+  (`MKNOD`), `chroot` (`SYS_CHROOT`). Setting the setgid bit on a file whose group
+  root is not in (`FSETID`) exits 0 and leaves the bit off. A port below 1024 still
+  binds. Before, the container ran with Docker's default capabilities and no process
+  limit. `docker-*` results from before this change may not be comparable for a task
+  whose step needs a dropped capability: re-run it to compare.
diff --git a/dokimi/docs/coding-harnesses.md b/dokimi/docs/coding-harnesses.md
index 9f5260490..bcffe994e 100644
--- a/dokimi/docs/coding-harnesses.md
+++ b/dokimi/docs/coding-harnesses.md
@@ -290,6 +290,16 @@ The result is in `metrics.isolation_probe` and `isolation_probe.json`:
 - **Memory.** The agent's CLI and its tmpfs HOME run inside the task's
   cgroup, so they count against `environment.memory_mb` (about 100 MB for a
   short session); the host launch ran outside it.
+- **Capabilities.** Every `docker-*` task container, `docker-oracle` included,
+  starts with `--init`, `--cap-drop ALL`, `no-new-privileges` and `--pids-limit 32768`,
+  and gets back only `CHOWN`, `DAC_OVERRIDE`, `FOWNER`, `SETUID` and `SETGID`
+  (`TASK_CONTAINER_HARDENING` in `harnesses/container_agent.py`). Every other
+  capability Docker grants by default is dropped, so a step that needs one
+  fails: signalling another user's process (`KILL`), a raw socket (`NET_RAW`),
+  `mknod` (`MKNOD`), `chroot` (`SYS_CHROOT`). Without `FSETID`, `chmod g+s` on
+  a file whose group root is not in exits 0 and leaves the bit off. A port
+  below 1024 still binds: Docker sets the container's
+  `ip_unprivileged_port_start` to 0.
 - **Network.** The container sits on a per-run `--internal` Docker network,
   which has no route out. The agent reaches the LLM through an allowlisting
   CONNECT proxy (`harnesses/egress_proxy.py`, stdlib only). It runs in a
diff --git a/dokimi/docs/contributing-terminal-bench-task.md b/dokimi/docs/contributing-terminal-bench-task.md
index 8008a4ab9..35fbeb04d 100644
--- a/dokimi/docs/contributing-terminal-bench-task.md
+++ b/dokimi/docs/contributing-terminal-bench-task.md
@@ -183,6 +183,15 @@ correctness baseline for the *task*, not a tutorial. Every task needs one,
 because the `docker-oracle` harness is how a task is proven runnable without
 spending model tokens.
 
+The solve and the verifier run in a container without Linux capabilities
+beyond `CHOWN`, `DAC_OVERRIDE`, `FOWNER`, `SETUID` and `SETGID`, so a setuid
+binary cannot raise its privileges and the process count is capped at 32768.
+A step that signals another user's process, opens a raw socket, or runs `mknod`
+or `chroot` fails; `docker-oracle` will show it. One loss is silent: setting the
+setgid bit on a file whose group root is not in exits 0 and leaves the bit off.
+A port below 1024 still binds. See
+[What the agent can reach](coding-harnesses.md#what-the-agent-can-reach).
+
 ## 8 — Local verification
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/container_agent.py b/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/container_agent.py
index da04add5a..c0242c50b 100644
--- a/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/container_agent.py
+++ b/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/container_agent.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 from typing import Callable, Iterable, Optional
 
 from dokimi import process
+from dokimi.repos.container import PIDS_LIMIT
 
 from . import egress_proxy
 from .agent_sandbox import (
@@ -83,6 +84,18 @@
 _FILE_VARS = ("NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS", "SSL_CERT_FILE", "REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE", "AWS_CA_BUNDLE",
               "GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS", "AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE", "AWS_CONFIG_FILE")
 PROXY_PORT = 3128
+# The task container's hardening flags are the ones repos/container.py sets, --init included
+# (PID 1 reaps the orphans a step leaves behind). Unlike there, root here gets back the few
+# capabilities its own steps need: CHOWN and FOWNER (chown/chmod of the agent's tree) and
+# DAC_OVERRIDE (root writing the agent's files). SETUID/SETGID are for task scripts that drop
+# privileges (apt's _apt sandbox, su); the harness's own `exec -u` steps need neither.
+# KILL, NET_BIND_SERVICE and the rest stay dropped.
+TASK_CONTAINER_HARDENING = (
+    "--init", "--cap-drop", "ALL", "--security-opt", "no-new-privileges",
+    "--pids-limit", str(PIDS_LIMIT),
+    "--cap-add", "CHOWN", "--cap-add", "DAC_OVERRIDE", "--cap-add", "FOWNER",
+    "--cap-add", "SETUID", "--cap-add", "SETGID",
+)
 _PROBE_TIMEOUT_SEC = 120.0
 DOCKER_STEP_TIMEOUT = 600.0  # a docker step without a budget of its own (cp, exec, inspect, ...)
 # The sidecar needs only a Python 3 interpreter. Pinned by digest (a tag moves, and
diff --git a/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py b/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py
index bcb5c472a..0903a4114 100644
--- a/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py
+++ b/dokimi/dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@
 )
 from .claude_json import _last_json_object, _parse_claude_json  # noqa: F401
 from .command import _parse_reward_text
-from .container_agent import AGENT_BIN, DOCKER_STEP_TIMEOUT, FILES_DIR, ContainerSandbox, Docker
+from .container_agent import (AGENT_BIN, DOCKER_STEP_TIMEOUT, FILES_DIR, TASK_CONTAINER_HARDENING,
+                              ContainerSandbox, Docker)
 from .models import HarnessResult, OperationRecord
 from .network_policy import (DEFAULTS, NetworkPlan, PhasePolicy, build_args, enter_phase, needs_sandbox,
                              resolve_recorded, skill_needs, start_args, redact as _redact)
@@ -352,11 +353,9 @@ def _start_container(self, task: TaskSpec, image: str, container: str, log,
                            + _task_verify_timeout(task) + 600))
         self._docker(["rm", "-f", container], log, check=False)
         env_args = [a for k, v in task.container_env.items() for a in ("-e", f"{k}={v}")]
-        self._docker(
-            ["run", "-d", "--name", container, *net_args, *env_args,
-             "--cpus", cpus, "--memory", memory, image, "sleep", str(lifetime)],
-            log,
-        )
+        run_args = ["run", "-d", "--name", container, *TASK_CONTAINER_HARDENING, *net_args,
+                    *env_args, "--cpus", cpus, "--memory", memory, image, "sleep", str(lifetime)]
+        self._docker(run_args, log)
         return enter_phase(plan.solve if inside else DEFAULTS["solve"], container, self._docker, log,
                            bridged="bridge" in net_args)
 
diff --git a/dokimi/scripts/growth_baseline.json b/dokimi/scripts/growth_baseline.json
index 72aeb637b..e0dc86497 100644
--- a/dokimi/scripts/growth_baseline.json
+++ b/dokimi/scripts/growth_baseline.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "files": {
     "dokimi/commands/novelty.py": {"lines": 984, "rationale": "estimate-only projection (expected_usd, arm scaling, extrapolation flag) in novelty CLI, on top of main's W-series and #173 lines; file split tracked separately"},
     "dokimi/harnesses/benchflow.py": {"lines": 869},
-    "dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py": {"lines": 900, "rationale": "pre-existing when the gate was introduced"},
+    "dokimi/harnesses/docker_solver.py": {"lines": 899, "rationale": "pre-existing when the gate was introduced"},
     "dokimi/llm.py": {"lines": 1118, "rationale": "grew on main in #180 (replay a stored retry) after #93 seeded this baseline; split it in its own PR"},
     "dokimi/report/model_compare.py": {"lines": 1209, "rationale": "grew on main in #73 (judge-validity --context stored) before the ratchet landed; split it in its own PR"},
     "tests/test_arm_runner.py": {"lines": 1176, "rationale": "pre-existing when the gate was introduced"},
diff --git a/dokimi/tests/test_docker_solver_harness.py b/dokimi/tests/test_docker_solver_harness.py
index 13c10553e..2e922bb0b 100644
--- a/dokimi/tests/test_docker_solver_harness.py
+++ b/dokimi/tests/test_docker_solver_harness.py
@@ -229,6 +229,26 @@ def test_start_container_malformed_memory_falls_back_instead_of_crashing(tmp_pat
     assert run_call[run_call.index("--memory") + 1] == "2g"
 
 
+def test_start_container_drops_capabilities_and_bounds_pids(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    # Regression (#229 P2-1a): the task container had no cap drop, no-new-privileges or
+    # pids limit, unlike repos/container.py. Only the named capabilities the phase steps
+    # need (chown, DAC override, file owner, setuid/setgid for task scripts) are added back.
+    # The flags must sit before the image: after it, docker hands them to `sleep`.
+    task = load_task(_fixture_task(tmp_path))
+    run_call = next(c for c in _start(task, "container-6") if c[0] == "run")
+    image_at = run_call.index("img:latest")
+    assert run_call[run_call.index("--cap-drop") + 1] == "ALL"
+    assert run_call[run_call.index("--security-opt") + 1] == "no-new-privileges"
+    assert run_call[run_call.index("--pids-limit") + 1] == "32768"
+    added = {run_call[i + 1] for i, arg in enumerate(run_call) if arg == "--cap-add"}
+    assert added == {"CHOWN", "DAC_OVERRIDE", "FOWNER", "SETUID", "SETGID"}
+    for flag in ("--init", "--cap-drop", "--security-opt", "--pids-limit", "--cap-add"):
+        assert flag in run_call
+        assert all(i < image_at for i, arg in enumerate(run_call) if arg == flag)
+    assert "--privileged" not in run_call
+    assert [run_call[i + 1] for i, arg in enumerate(run_call) if arg == "--security-opt"] == ["no-new-privileges"]
+
+
 def test_solve_oracle_copies_the_whole_solution_directory(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     # Regression test: a real run against uxlfoundation/skills'
     # onetbb-histogram-local-aggregation failed (reward 0) because solve.sh