diff --git a/rips/rustchain-core/api/rpc.py b/rips/rustchain-core/api/rpc.py
index 08b7c8563..49b38811b 100644
--- a/rips/rustchain-core/api/rpc.py
+++ b/rips/rustchain-core/api/rpc.py
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 """
 
 import json
+import hmac
+import os
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Dict, Any, Optional, Callable
@@ -255,6 +257,16 @@ class ApiRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
     """HTTP request handler for API"""
 
     api: RustChainApi = None  # Set by server
+    STATE_CHANGING_PATHS = {
+        "/api/mine",
+        "/api/governance/create",
+        "/api/governance/vote",
+    }
+    STATE_CHANGING_RPC_METHODS = {
+        "submitProof",
+        "createProposal",
+        "vote",
+    }
 
     def do_GET(self):
         """Handle GET requests"""
@@ -262,7 +274,7 @@ def do_GET(self):
         path = parsed.path
         params = {k: v[0] for k, v in parse_qs(parsed.query).items()}
 
-        response = self._route_request(path, params)
+        response = self._route_request(path, params, "GET")
         self._send_response(response)
 
     def do_POST(self):
@@ -276,11 +288,41 @@ def do_POST(self):
             params = {}
 
         parsed = urlparse(self.path)
-        response = self._route_request(parsed.path, params)
+        response = self._route_request(parsed.path, params, "POST")
         self._send_response(response)
 
-    def _route_request(self, path: str, params: Dict[str, Any]) -> ApiResponse:
+    def do_OPTIONS(self):
+        """Handle CORS preflight requests."""
+        if not self._is_origin_allowed():
+            self.send_response(403)
+            self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+            self.end_headers()
+            self.wfile.write(ApiResponse(
+                success=False,
+                error="Origin not allowed",
+            ).to_json().encode())
+            return
+
+        self.send_response(204)
+        self._send_cors_headers()
+        self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "GET, POST, OPTIONS")
+        self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Content-Type, X-CSRF-Token")
+        self.send_header("Access-Control-Max-Age", "600")
+        self.end_headers()
+
+    def _route_request(self, path: str, params: Dict[str, Any], http_method: str) -> ApiResponse:
         """Route request to appropriate handler"""
+        if self._is_state_changing_request(path, params):
+            csrf_response = self._validate_csrf_token()
+            if csrf_response:
+                return csrf_response
+
+            if http_method != "POST":
+                return ApiResponse(
+                    success=False,
+                    error="State-changing endpoints require POST",
+                )
+
         # REST endpoints
         routes = {
             "/api/stats": ("getStats", {}),
@@ -334,10 +376,49 @@ def _send_response(self, response: ApiResponse):
         """Send HTTP response"""
         self.send_response(200 if response.success else 400)
         self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
-        self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
+        self._send_cors_headers()
         self.end_headers()
         self.wfile.write(response.to_json().encode())
 
+    def _is_state_changing_request(self, path: str, params: Dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
+        """Return whether a request can mutate node state."""
+        if path in self.STATE_CHANGING_PATHS:
+            return True
+        return (
+            path == "/rpc"
+            and params.get("method", "") in self.STATE_CHANGING_RPC_METHODS
+        )
+
+    def _validate_csrf_token(self) -> Optional[ApiResponse]:
+        """Require an explicit CSRF token for state-changing operations."""
+        expected = os.environ.get("RUSTCHAIN_API_CSRF_TOKEN", "")
+        if not expected:
+            return ApiResponse(success=False, error="CSRF token is not configured")
+
+        supplied = self.headers.get("X-CSRF-Token", "")
+        if not hmac.compare_digest(supplied, expected):
+            return ApiResponse(success=False, error="Invalid CSRF token")
+        return None
+
+    def _is_origin_allowed(self) -> bool:
+        """Return whether the request Origin is configured for CORS access."""
+        origin = self.headers.get("Origin", "")
+        if not origin:
+            return True
+        return origin in self._allowed_cors_origins()
+
+    def _send_cors_headers(self):
+        """Emit CORS headers only for exact configured origins."""
+        origin = self.headers.get("Origin", "")
+        if origin and origin in self._allowed_cors_origins():
+            self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", origin)
+            self.send_header("Vary", "Origin")
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _allowed_cors_origins() -> set:
+        raw = os.environ.get("RUSTCHAIN_API_ALLOWED_ORIGINS", "")
+        return {origin.strip() for origin in raw.split(",") if origin.strip()}
+
     def log_message(self, format, *args):
         """Suppress default logging"""
         pass
diff --git a/tests/test_rustchain_core_api_cors_csrf.py b/tests/test_rustchain_core_api_cors_csrf.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f08cd4993
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_rustchain_core_api_cors_csrf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+"""
+Regression tests for RustChain core API CORS and CSRF handling.
+
+The API module is loaded directly because the package path contains a hyphen.
+"""
+
+import http.client
+import importlib.util
+import json
+import os
+import sys
+import threading
+from http.server import HTTPServer
+
+
+def _load_rpc_namespace():
+    rpc_path = os.path.join(
+        os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)),
+        "rips",
+        "rustchain-core",
+        "api",
+        "rpc.py",
+    )
+    module_name = "rustchain_core_rpc_api_under_test"
+    spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location(module_name, rpc_path)
+    module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+    sys.modules[module_name] = module
+    spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+    return module.__dict__
+
+
+RPC = _load_rpc_namespace()
+ApiRequestHandler = RPC["ApiRequestHandler"]
+RustChainApi = RPC["RustChainApi"]
+MockNode = RPC["MockNode"]
+
+
+class _ApiServerFixture:
+    def __enter__(self):
+        self.node = MockNode()
+        ApiRequestHandler.api = RustChainApi(self.node)
+        self.server = HTTPServer(("127.0.0.1", 0), ApiRequestHandler)
+        self.thread = threading.Thread(target=self.server.serve_forever, daemon=True)
+        self.thread.start()
+        self.url = f"http://127.0.0.1:{self.server.server_port}"
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc, tb):
+        self.server.shutdown()
+        self.thread.join(timeout=5)
+
+    def request(self, path, method="GET", body=None, headers=None):
+        connection = http.client.HTTPConnection(
+            "127.0.0.1",
+            self.server.server_port,
+            timeout=5,
+        )
+        connection.request(method, path, body=body, headers=headers or {})
+        response = connection.getresponse()
+        raw_body = response.read()
+        headers = dict(response.headers)
+        connection.close()
+        return response.status, headers, raw_body
+
+
+def _json_body(raw_body):
+    return json.loads(raw_body.decode())
+
+
+def test_unconfigured_cors_does_not_emit_wildcard_origin(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("RUSTCHAIN_API_ALLOWED_ORIGINS", raising=False)
+
+    with _ApiServerFixture() as server:
+        status, headers, raw_body = server.request(
+            "/api/stats",
+            headers={"Origin": "https://evil.example"},
+        )
+
+    assert status == 200
+    assert _json_body(raw_body)["success"] is True
+    assert headers.get("Access-Control-Allow-Origin") is None
+
+
+def test_configured_cors_echoes_only_exact_allowed_origin(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("RUSTCHAIN_API_ALLOWED_ORIGINS", "https://app.rustchain.org")
+
+    with _ApiServerFixture() as server:
+        status, headers, _ = server.request(
+            "/api/stats",
+            headers={"Origin": "https://app.rustchain.org"},
+        )
+
+    assert status == 200
+    assert headers["Access-Control-Allow-Origin"] == "https://app.rustchain.org"
+    assert headers["Access-Control-Allow-Origin"] != "*"
+
+
+def test_state_changing_post_fails_closed_without_configured_csrf(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("RUSTCHAIN_API_CSRF_TOKEN", raising=False)
+
+    with _ApiServerFixture() as server:
+        status, _, raw_body = server.request(
+            "/api/mine",
+            method="POST",
+            body=b'{"wallet": "alice"}',
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"},
+        )
+
+    body = _json_body(raw_body)
+    assert status == 400
+    assert body["success"] is False
+    assert body["error"] == "CSRF token is not configured"
+
+
+def test_state_changing_rpc_requires_matching_csrf_token(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("RUSTCHAIN_API_CSRF_TOKEN", "secret-token")
+    payload = json.dumps({
+        "method": "submitProof",
+        "params": {"wallet": "alice"},
+    }).encode()
+
+    with _ApiServerFixture() as server:
+        bad_status, _, bad_body = server.request(
+            "/rpc",
+            method="POST",
+            body=payload,
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json", "X-CSRF-Token": "wrong"},
+        )
+        ok_status, _, ok_body = server.request(
+            "/rpc",
+            method="POST",
+            body=payload,
+            headers={"Content-Type": "application/json", "X-CSRF-Token": "secret-token"},
+        )
+
+    assert bad_status == 400
+    assert _json_body(bad_body)["error"] == "Invalid CSRF token"
+    assert ok_status == 200
+    assert _json_body(ok_body)["success"] is True