diff --git a/internal/discovery/pathcheck.go b/internal/discovery/pathcheck.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04e8f21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/discovery/pathcheck.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package discovery
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// IsInsideRoot reports whether path is the same as, or nested inside,
+// root. Both are cleaned before comparison so trailing slashes, "."
+// segments, and ".." escapes are handled. Prefix tricks like
+// "/foo" vs "/foo-evil" are NOT considered inside.
+func IsInsideRoot(root, path string) bool {
+	r := filepath.Clean(root)
+	p := filepath.Clean(path)
+	if p == r {
+		return true
+	}
+	rel, err := filepath.Rel(r, p)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return !strings.HasPrefix(rel, "..")
+}
diff --git a/internal/discovery/pathcheck_test.go b/internal/discovery/pathcheck_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e08697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/discovery/pathcheck_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package discovery_test
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/shcizo/package-updater/internal/discovery"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestIsInsideRoot(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		root string
+		path string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"direct child", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted/myapp", true},
+		{"nested", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted/a/b/c", true},
+		{"root itself", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", true},
+		{"sibling", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/other", false},
+		{"parent", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo", false},
+		{"unrelated", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/etc/passwd", false},
+		{"prefix-trick", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted-evil", false},
+		{"dotdot escape", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted/../etc", false},
+		{"trailing slash root", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted/", "/home/shcizo/self-hosted/x", true},
+	}
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		t.Run(c.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.Equal(t, c.want, discovery.IsInsideRoot(c.root, c.path))
+		})
+	}
+}