diff --git a/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec.go b/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec.go
index aaee60783..b768bf856 100644
--- a/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec.go
+++ b/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec.go
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ func (d ExtraDataDecoder) DecodeExtraArgsToMap(extraArgs ccipocr3.Bytes) (map[st
 
 // DecodeDestExecDataToMap is a helper function for converting dest exec data bytes into map[string]any
 func (d ExtraDataDecoder) DecodeDestExecDataToMap(destExecData ccipocr3.Bytes) (map[string]any, error) {
+	if len(destExecData) < 4 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("dest exec data too short: %d, should be at least 4 bytes", len(destExecData))
+	}
+
 	return map[string]any{
 		svmDestExecDataKey: binary.BigEndian.Uint32(destExecData),
 	}, nil
diff --git a/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec_test.go b/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec_test.go
index 4b9b2842a..2897db860 100644
--- a/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec_test.go
+++ b/pkg/solana/ccip/codec/extradatacodec_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,13 @@ func Test_decodeExtraArgs(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Equal(t, destGasAmount, decoded)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("decode dest exec data errors on short input", func(t *testing.T) {
+		for _, encoded := range [][]byte{nil, {}, {0x1}, {0x1, 0x2, 0x3}} {
+			_, err := extraDataDecoder.DecodeDestExecDataToMap(encoded)
+			require.Error(t, err)
+		}
+	})
+
 	t.Run("decode extra args into map svm", func(t *testing.T) {
 		destGasAmount := uint32(10000)
 		bitmap := uint64(0)