diff --git a/modules/tools/00_mod.mk b/modules/tools/00_mod.mk
index 2f81d56c..26f2fc35 100644
--- a/modules/tools/00_mod.mk
+++ b/modules/tools/00_mod.mk
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ $(bin_dir)/tools $(DOWNLOAD_DIR)/tools:
 
 checkhash_script := $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))/util/checkhash.sh
 lock_script := $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))/util/lock.sh
+verify_cache_script := $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))/util/verify_cache.sh
 
 # $outfile is a variable in the lock script
 # Escape the dollar sign so it's passed literally to the shell script, not expanded by make
@@ -785,3 +786,17 @@ go-tools: $(go_tool_names:%=$(bin_dir)/tools/%)
 ## Download and setup all tools
 ## @category [shared] Tools
 tools: non-go-tools go-tools
+
+.PHONY: verify-cache
+## Verify the integrity of $(DOWNLOAD_DIR) after restoring from an untrusted
+## cache. Checks SHA-256 of downloaded binaries, removes files with mismatched
+## hashes and unknown files, and verifies the Go module cache via go.sum. Exits
+## non-zero if any corruption is detected. Intended to be run after cache
+## restore in CI environments where the cache write-side is not fully trusted
+## (e.g. node-local hostPath shared with low-trust presubmit jobs).
+## @category [shared] Tools
+verify-cache:
+	@$(verify_cache_script) $(DOWNLOAD_DIR) \
+		$(foreach t,$(non_go_tool_names),$(if $(value $(t)_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH)_SHA256SUM),$(t)@$($(call uc,$(t))_VERSION)_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH)=$($(t)_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH)_SHA256SUM))) \
+		go@$(VENDORED_GO_VERSION)_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH).tar.gz=$(go_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH)_SHA256SUM) \
+		kubebuilder_tools_$(KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS_VERSION)_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH).tar.gz=$(kubebuilder_tools_$(HOST_OS)_$(HOST_ARCH)_SHA256SUM)
diff --git a/modules/tools/util/verify_cache.sh b/modules/tools/util/verify_cache.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..57031f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/tools/util/verify_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright 2026 The cert-manager Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null 2>&1 && pwd )"
+
+# Verify the integrity of a restored cache directory before it is trusted.
+#
+# Intended to run after restoring a cache in CI from a low-trust source
+# (e.g. a node-local hostPath shared with presubmit jobs that could plant
+# trojan binaries). It performs three checks:
+#
+#   1. For each file directly under <cache-dir>/tools/: if the file name is
+#      not in the supplied allow-list, it is removed; otherwise its SHA-256
+#      (via hash.sh) must match the expected hash or the file is removed.
+#   2. Anything in <cache-dir>/ other than the tools/ directory is removed
+#      outright — only the tools/ subtree is considered part of the cache.
+#   3. If go, go.mod and go.sum are present in the working directory, run
+#      `go mod verify` to validate the Go module cache. NOTE: `go mod verify`
+#      checks the modules in $GOMODCACHE (defaults to $GOPATH/pkg/mod); the
+#      caller must point GOMODCACHE at the restored cache for this to
+#      verify it.
+#
+# Exits 0 if nothing was removed (cache was clean), 1 if any file or
+# directory was removed (cache was corrupted/tampered and CI should treat
+# the restore as a miss).
+#
+# Usage: verify_cache.sh <cache-dir> [<file>=<hash> ...]
+#   <cache-dir>   Path to an existing cache directory containing tools/.
+#   <file>=<hash> Allow-listed file under tools/ and its expected SHA-256.
+#                 <hash> must be non-empty; every allow-listed file is
+#                 hash-checked.
+
+if [[ $# -lt 1 ]]; then
+	echo "Usage: $(basename "$0") <cache-dir> [<file>=<hash> ...]" >&2
+	exit 2
+fi
+
+cache_dir="$1"
+shift
+
+if [[ ! -d "${cache_dir}" ]]; then
+	echo "error: cache directory does not exist: ${cache_dir}" >&2
+	exit 2
+fi
+
+tools_dir="${cache_dir}/tools"
+
+declare -A hashes
+for pair in "$@"; do
+	if [[ "${pair}" != *=* ]]; then
+		echo "error: expected <file>=<hash>, got: ${pair}" >&2
+		exit 2
+	fi
+	name="${pair%%=*}"
+	hash="${pair#*=}"
+	if [[ -z "${name}" ]]; then
+		echo "error: empty file name in argument: ${pair}" >&2
+		exit 2
+	fi
+	if [[ -z "${hash}" ]]; then
+		echo "error: empty hash for file '${name}'; every allow-listed file must have a hash" >&2
+		exit 2
+	fi
+	hashes["${name}"]="${hash}"
+done
+
+removed=0
+
+# Verify tools/ directory
+for file in "${tools_dir}"/*; do
+	[[ -f "${file}" ]] || continue
+	name=$(basename "${file}")
+
+	# Remove unknown files
+	if [[ ! -v hashes["${name}"] ]]; then
+		rm -f "${file}"
+		removed=1
+		continue
+	fi
+
+	# Remove files with wrong hash
+	if [[ $("${SCRIPT_DIR}/hash.sh" "${file}") != "${hashes[${name}]}" ]]; then
+		rm -f "${file}"
+		removed=1
+	fi
+done
+
+# Remove all unexpected files/directories in cache root (not tools/)
+for item in "${cache_dir}"/*; do
+	[[ -e "${item}" ]] || continue
+	[[ "$(basename "${item}")" == "tools" ]] && continue
+	rm -rf "${item}"
+	removed=1
+done
+
+if [[ -f go.mod ]] && [[ -f go.sum ]] && command -v go >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	echo "## Verifying Go module cache"
+	go mod verify
+fi
+
+exit "${removed}"
diff --git a/tests/test_verify_cache.sh b/tests/test_verify_cache.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..a65f9c30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_verify_cache.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# Copyright 2026 The cert-manager Authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+script_dir=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+verify_cache="${script_dir}/../modules/tools/util/verify_cache.sh"
+hash_script="${script_dir}/../modules/tools/util/hash.sh"
+
+echo "Testing verify_cache.sh"
+
+# Test 1: Empty cache passes
+echo "Test 1: Empty cache"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+"${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" file1=abc123 file2=def456 && echo "✓ pass" || echo "✗ fail"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 2: Valid files pass
+echo "Test 2: Valid files"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+echo "content1" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1"
+echo "content2" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/file2"
+hash1=$("${hash_script}" "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1")
+hash2=$("${hash_script}" "${tmp_dir}/tools/file2")
+"${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "file1=${hash1}" "file2=${hash2}" && echo "✓ pass" || echo "✗ fail"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 3: Unknown file in tools/ removed
+echo "Test 3: Unknown file removed"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+echo "content1" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1"
+echo "trojan" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/evil"
+hash1=$("${hash_script}" "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1")
+if "${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "file1=${hash1}" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✗ fail - should have exited 1"
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+[[ ! -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/evil" ]] && echo "✓ pass" || echo "✗ fail - evil not removed"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 4: Wrong hash removed
+echo "Test 4: Wrong hash removed"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+echo "content1" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1"
+if "${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "file1=wronghash" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✗ fail - should have exited 1"
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+[[ ! -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/file1" ]] && echo "✓ pass" || echo "✗ fail - file1 not removed"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 5: Empty hash is rejected
+echo "Test 5: Empty hash rejected"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+echo "content" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/etcd"
+if "${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "etcd=" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✗ fail - should have exited non-zero"
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "✓ pass - empty hash rejected"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 6: Mixed scenario in tools/
+echo "Test 6: Mixed scenario"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools"
+echo "good" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind"
+echo "bad" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/helm"
+echo "trojan" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/evil"
+hash_kind=$("${hash_script}" "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind")
+if "${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "kind=${hash_kind}" "helm=wronghash" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✗ fail - should have exited 1"
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+[[ -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind" ]] && echo "✓ pass - kind kept" || echo "✗ fail - kind removed"
+[[ ! -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/helm" ]] && echo "✓ pass - helm removed" || echo "✗ fail - helm kept"
+[[ ! -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/evil" ]] && echo "✓ pass - evil removed" || echo "✗ fail - evil kept"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+# Test 7: Removes untrusted files/dirs from cache root
+echo "Test 7: Cache root cleanup"
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+mkdir -p "${tmp_dir}/tools" "${tmp_dir}/evil_dir"
+echo "good" > "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind"
+echo "trojan1" > "${tmp_dir}/trojan_root"
+echo "trojan2" > "${tmp_dir}/evil_dir/payload"
+hash_kind=$("${hash_script}" "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind")
+if "${verify_cache}" "${tmp_dir}" "kind=${hash_kind}" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "✗ fail - should have exited 1"
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+[[ -f "${tmp_dir}/tools/kind" ]] && echo "✓ pass - kind kept" || echo "✗ fail - kind removed"
+[[ ! -f "${tmp_dir}/trojan_root" ]] && echo "✓ pass - trojan_root removed" || echo "✗ fail - trojan_root kept"
+[[ ! -d "${tmp_dir}/evil_dir" ]] && echo "✓ pass - evil_dir removed" || echo "✗ fail - evil_dir kept"
+rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+
+echo "All tests passed"