diff --git a/src/dilithium_py/dilithium/dilithium.py b/src/dilithium_py/dilithium/dilithium.py
index 59671b0..94fdfe9 100644
--- a/src/dilithium_py/dilithium/dilithium.py
+++ b/src/dilithium_py/dilithium/dilithium.py
@@ -162,6 +162,16 @@ def _unpack_sk(self, sk_bytes):
 
     def _unpack_h(self, h_bytes):
         offsets = [0] + list(h_bytes[-self.k :])
+        # check offsets are monotonic increasing
+        if any(offsets[i] > offsets[i + 1] for i in range(len(offsets) - 1)):
+            raise ValueError("Offsets in h_bytes are not monotonic increasing")
+        # check offset[-1] is smaller than the length of h_bytes
+        if offsets[-1] > self.omega:
+            raise ValueError("Accumulate offset of hints exceeds omega")
+        # check zero fields are all zeros
+        if any(b != 0 for b in h_bytes[offsets[-1] : self.omega]):
+            raise ValueError("Non-zero fields in h_bytes are not all zeros")
+
         non_zero_positions = [
             list(h_bytes[offsets[i] : offsets[i + 1]]) for i in range(self.k)
         ]
@@ -169,6 +179,11 @@ def _unpack_h(self, h_bytes):
         matrix = []
         for poly_non_zero in non_zero_positions:
             coeffs = [0 for _ in range(256)]
+            for i, non_zero in enumerate(poly_non_zero):
+                if i > 0 and non_zero < poly_non_zero[i - 1]:
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        "Non-zero positions in h_bytes are not monotonic increasing"
+                    )
             for non_zero in poly_non_zero:
                 coeffs[non_zero] = 1
             matrix.append([self.R(coeffs)])
@@ -282,7 +297,11 @@ def verify(self, pk_bytes, m, sig_bytes):
         signature
         """
         rho, t1 = self._unpack_pk(pk_bytes)
-        c_tilde, z, h = self._unpack_sig(sig_bytes)
+        try:
+            c_tilde, z, h = self._unpack_sig(sig_bytes)
+        except ValueError:
+            # verify failed if malformed input signature
+            return False
 
         if h.sum_hint() > self.omega:
             return False