diff --git a/src/Mesh.cpp b/src/Mesh.cpp
index 57fee1403..f867ccd23 100644
--- a/src/Mesh.cpp
+++ b/src/Mesh.cpp
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ int Mesh::searchChannelsByHash(const uint8_t* hash, GroupChannel channels[], int
 
 DispatcherAction Mesh::onRecvPacket(Packet* pkt) {
   if (pkt->isRouteDirect() && pkt->getPayloadType() == PAYLOAD_TYPE_TRACE) {
-    if (pkt->path_len < MAX_PATH_SIZE) {
+    if (pkt->path_len < MAX_PATH_SIZE && pkt->payload_len >= 9) {  // need trace_tag(4) + auth_code(4) + flags(1)
       uint8_t i = 0;
       uint32_t trace_tag;
       memcpy(&trace_tag, &pkt->payload[i], 4); i += 4;
diff --git a/src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp b/src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp
index e20bbb1c0..fd6312734 100644
--- a/src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp
+++ b/src/helpers/CommonCLI.cpp
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ void CommonCLI::handleCommand(uint32_t sender_timestamp, const char* command, ch
         _prefs->advert_loc_policy = ADVERT_LOC_SHARE;
         savePrefs();
         strcpy(reply, "ok");
-      } else if (memcmp(command+11, "prefs", 4) == 0) {
+      } else if (memcmp(command+11, "prefs", 5) == 0) {
         _prefs->advert_loc_policy = ADVERT_LOC_PREFS;
         savePrefs();
         strcpy(reply, "ok");