diff --git a/apps/server/package.json b/apps/server/package.json
index 9a1d8c1..27dc383 100644
--- a/apps/server/package.json
+++ b/apps/server/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
-  "description": "EPPP public server application. Serves the application health endpoint (E00-S02-T03) gated on the startup migration run (E00-S03-T06), with a field-specific startup error when a required setting is missing (E00-S04-T02), automatic secret redaction from all log output (E00-S04-T03) and all settings flowing through the config package's environment adapter — the server reads no process.env directly (E00-S04-T04); the Fastify 5 application shell lands in a later story.",
+  "description": "EPPP public server application. Serves the application health endpoint (E00-S02-T03) gated on the startup migration run (E00-S03-T06), with a field-specific startup error when a required setting is missing (E00-S04-T02), automatic secret redaction from all log output (E00-S04-T03) and all settings flowing through the config package's environment adapter — the server reads no process.env directly and binds the validated HOST interface (E00-S04-T04); the Fastify 5 application shell lands in a later story.",
   "scripts": {
     "build": "pnpm --filter @personal-blog/config build && pnpm --filter @personal-blog/database-postgres build && tsc -p tsconfig.json",
     "typecheck": "pnpm --filter @personal-blog/config build && pnpm --filter @personal-blog/database-postgres build && tsc -p tsconfig.json --noEmit",
diff --git a/apps/server/src/index.ts b/apps/server/src/index.ts
index 838562d..393a27d 100644
--- a/apps/server/src/index.ts
+++ b/apps/server/src/index.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@
  * (`HOST`/`PORT`/`DATABASE_URL`/`EPPP_SESSION_SECRET`) onto the validated
  * config shape and validates it with `assertValidConfig` (E00-S04-T02) before
  * the server binds, so a missing required setting is still a startup error
- * naming the missing field.
+ * naming the missing field. `HOST` is validated at the adapter boundary as a
+ * hostname or IP address and the server passes `config.host` to
+ * `server.listen`, so a configured `HOST` binds exactly that interface and
+ * the startup log reflects the actual bind — it never claims a bind the
+ * process does not enforce, and never echoes unvalidated env content.
  *
  * [E00-S04-T03] secret redaction: ALL log output goes through the redacting
  * logger (`createLogger`, defined below — every line is scrubbed of the
@@ -199,7 +203,11 @@ if (databaseUrl === undefined) {
     });
 }
 
-server.listen(config.port, () => {
+// The server binds the validated bind interface: `config.host` (default
+// `0.0.0.0`, validated as a hostname/IP by the adapter) is passed to
+// `server.listen`, so a configured `HOST` binds exactly that interface and
+// the startup log reflects the actual bind.
+server.listen(config.port, config.host, () => {
   logger.log(`@personal-blog/server listening on http://${config.host}:${config.port} (health: GET /health)`);
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/config/package.json b/packages/config/package.json
index 49c69c2..8e8ad19 100644
--- a/packages/config/package.json
+++ b/packages/config/package.json
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   "version": "0.0.0",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
-  "description": "EPPP configuration service. Owns the TypeBox/Ajv configuration schema (E00-S04-T01), the field-specific startup error for a missing required setting (E00-S04-T02), the secret redaction layer (E00-S04-T03) and the environment adapter — the single owner of process.env reads (E00-S04-T04); the .env.example template (E00-S04-T05) lands in a later task.",
+  "description": "EPPP configuration service. Owns the TypeBox/Ajv configuration schema (E00-S04-T01), the field-specific startup error for a missing required setting (E00-S04-T02), the secret redaction layer (E00-S04-T03) and the environment adapter — the single owner of process.env reads, validating HOST as a hostname/IP at the adapter boundary (E00-S04-T04); the .env.example template (E00-S04-T05) lands in a later task.",
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsc -p tsconfig.json",
     "typecheck": "tsc -p tsconfig.json --noEmit"
diff --git a/packages/config/src/env.ts b/packages/config/src/env.ts
index bca077c..03cbc10 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/env.ts
+++ b/packages/config/src/env.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@
  * `schema.ts`):
  *
  * - `HOST` → `host` — the interface the HTTP server binds, default `0.0.0.0`
- *   (the container default).
+ *   (the container default). The value is validated at this adapter boundary
+ *   as a hostname or IP address (IPv4/IPv6) before it is used for binding or
+ *   logged: an invalid `HOST` throws a field-specific `ConfigStartupError`
+ *   naming `host`, so arbitrary env content is never echoed verbatim into the
+ *   startup log (the issue's acceptance criterion: "HOST is validated at the
+ *   adapter boundary as a hostname or IP address before it is used for
+ *   binding or logged").
  * - `PORT` → `port` — integer in the valid TCP port range (1–65535), default
  *   `3000` (the Dockerfile `EXPOSE 3000` / compose `:3000` container port). A
  *   non-numeric or out-of-range override falls back to the default so a bad
@@ -39,7 +45,9 @@
  * `process.env`.
  */
 
-import { assertValidConfig } from './startup.js';
+import { isIP } from 'node:net';
+
+import { assertValidConfig, ConfigStartupError } from './startup.js';
 import type { Config } from './schema.js';
 
 /**
@@ -53,6 +61,43 @@ function resolvePort(raw: string | undefined): number {
   return Number.isInteger(port) && port > 0 && port <= 65535 ? port : 3000;
 }
 
+/**
+ * One RFC 1123 hostname label: 1–63 alphanumerics/hyphens, not starting or
+ * ending with a hyphen.
+ */
+const HOSTNAME_LABEL = '[a-zA-Z0-9](?:[a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?';
+
+/**
+ * A hostname: dot-separated RFC 1123 labels (e.g. `localhost`, `db`,
+ * `api.internal.example`), at most 253 characters total.
+ */
+const HOSTNAME_PATTERN = new RegExp(`^(?:${HOSTNAME_LABEL}\\.)*${HOSTNAME_LABEL}$`);
+
+/**
+ * Resolves the bind interface from `HOST` (default `0.0.0.0` — the container
+ * default). The value is validated at this adapter boundary as a hostname or
+ * IP address (IPv4/IPv6, via `node:net` `isIP` or the RFC 1123 hostname
+ * pattern) BEFORE it can be used for binding or logged: an invalid value
+ * throws a field-specific `ConfigStartupError` naming `host`, so arbitrary
+ * `HOST` content is never echoed verbatim into the startup log (the issue's
+ * acceptance criterion — the server passes the validated value to
+ * `server.listen`, and the startup log reflects the actual bind interface).
+ *
+ * Unlike `resolvePort` (which falls back to the default on a bad value), an
+ * invalid `HOST` fails startup: an operator who sets `HOST=127.0.0.1` to
+ * restrict network exposure must never silently get a different interface.
+ */
+function resolveHost(raw: string | undefined): string {
+  if (raw === undefined) return '0.0.0.0';
+  if (isIP(raw) !== 0 || (raw.length <= 253 && HOSTNAME_PATTERN.test(raw))) {
+    return raw;
+  }
+  throw new ConfigStartupError(
+    'invalid configuration: host: must be a valid hostname or IP address',
+    ['host: must be a valid hostname or IP address'],
+  );
+}
+
 /**
  * Maps the environment onto the validated configuration — the E00-S04-T04
  * environment adapter.
@@ -70,7 +115,7 @@ function resolvePort(raw: string | undefined): number {
  */
 export function loadConfigFromEnv(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): Config {
   return assertValidConfig({
-    host: env.HOST ?? '0.0.0.0',
+    host: resolveHost(env.HOST),
     port: resolvePort(env.PORT),
     databaseUrl: env.DATABASE_URL,
     sessionSecret: env.EPPP_SESSION_SECRET,
diff --git a/packages/config/src/index.ts b/packages/config/src/index.ts
index dce9fcc..7658be0 100644
--- a/packages/config/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/config/src/index.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,11 @@
  * It maps the environment (`HOST`/`PORT`/`DATABASE_URL`/`EPPP_SESSION_SECRET`)
  * onto the validated config shape and validates it with `assertValidConfig`
  * at startup, so every setting flows through the adapter and no other module
- * reads `process.env` directly. The `.env.example` template (E00-S04-T05)
- * builds on this boundary in a later task.
+ * reads `process.env` directly. `HOST` is validated at the adapter boundary
+ * as a hostname or IP address before it is used for binding or logged, so
+ * arbitrary env content is never echoed verbatim into the startup log. The
+ * `.env.example` template (E00-S04-T05) builds on this boundary in a later
+ * task.
  */
 
 export { configSchema } from './schema.js';