diff --git a/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tcp-transport.ts b/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tcp-transport.ts
index 18ee938..d22cddc 100644
--- a/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tcp-transport.ts
+++ b/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tcp-transport.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,11 @@ function frameReader(socket: Socket): AsyncIterable<Frame> {
 
       let decoded: unknown;
       try {
-        decoded = decode(body, cdeDecodeOptions);
+        // cbor2's decode() mirrors its input's own class for nested byte-string values: fed a Buffer, it slices out Buffer instances, not plain Uint8Array -- and its own encode() then fails to recognise a Buffer as a byte string at all (it falls through to encoding it as a generic object), silently corrupting any later re-encode of a decoded byte-string field. A capability token's own signature verification does exactly that re-encode (COSE's Sig_structure, built from the token's own protected-header and payload byte strings), so decoding straight off this socket's Buffer would make every real, wire-received token fail signature verification despite carrying perfectly correct bytes. Normalising to a plain Uint8Array view first (same range, same backing memory, just the base class cbor2's encoder actually recognises) avoids the whole class of bug, matching frame-codec.ts's own `new Uint8Array(data)` normalisation for exactly this reason.
+        decoded = decode(
+          new Uint8Array(body.buffer, body.byteOffset, body.byteLength),
+          cdeDecodeOptions,
+        );
       } catch (error) {
         // socket.destroy takes an Error; the caught value is unknown-typed even though cbor2 only ever throws Errors, so it is rewrapped rather than asserted
         const connectionError =
diff --git a/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tls-transport.ts b/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tls-transport.ts
index 074fc40..ffac8c2 100644
--- a/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tls-transport.ts
+++ b/ts/packages/core/src/adapters/tls-transport.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,11 @@ function frameReader(socket: TLSSocket): AsyncIterable<Frame> {
 
       let decoded: unknown;
       try {
-        decoded = decode(body, cdeDecodeOptions);
+        // cbor2's decode() mirrors its input's own class for nested byte-string values: fed a Buffer, it slices out Buffer instances, not plain Uint8Array -- and its own encode() then fails to recognise a Buffer as a byte string at all (it falls through to encoding it as a generic object), silently corrupting any later re-encode of a decoded byte-string field. A capability token's own signature verification does exactly that re-encode (COSE's Sig_structure, built from the token's own protected-header and payload byte strings), so decoding straight off this socket's Buffer would make every real, wire-received token fail signature verification despite carrying perfectly correct bytes. Normalising to a plain Uint8Array view first (same range, same backing memory, just the base class cbor2's encoder actually recognises) avoids the whole class of bug, matching frame-codec.ts's own `new Uint8Array(data)` normalisation for exactly this reason.
+        decoded = decode(
+          new Uint8Array(body.buffer, body.byteOffset, body.byteLength),
+          cdeDecodeOptions,
+        );
       } catch (error) {
         const connectionError =
           error instanceof Error
diff --git a/ts/packages/core/test/tcp-transport-token-bytes.test.ts b/ts/packages/core/test/tcp-transport-token-bytes.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d10da39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ts/packages/core/test/tcp-transport-token-bytes.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+import { encode, cdeEncodeOptions } from "cbor2";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { createTcpTransport } from "../src/adapters/tcp-transport.js";
+import type { Connection } from "../src/ports/transport.js";
+import type { ManageRequestFrame } from "../src/generated/protocol.js";
+
+const BYTE_MODULUS = 256;
+const PROTECTED_HEADER_LENGTH = 8;
+const PAYLOAD_LENGTH = 64;
+const SIGNATURE_LENGTH = 4;
+const PROTECTED_HEADER_SEED = 11;
+const PAYLOAD_SEED = 7;
+const SIGNATURE_SEED = 13;
+
+/** Deterministic, distinguishable filler bytes -- the actual values are irrelevant to what this test checks, only that a genuine multi-byte, non-uniform byte string round-trips through a real socket unchanged. Uint8Array.from()'s own return type is the wider Uint8Array<ArrayBufferLike>; a fresh Uint8Array copy narrows it to the concrete Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer> the generated schemas' tuple fields require. */
+function fillerBytes(length: number, seed: number): Uint8Array<ArrayBuffer> {
+  return Uint8Array.from(
+    Uint8Array.from(
+      Array.from({ length }, (_unused, index) => (index * seed) % BYTE_MODULUS),
+    ),
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Regression test for a real bug: cbor2's decode() mirrors the class of the buffer it's given for nested
+ * byte-string values (a Node Buffer input yields Buffer-typed byte strings, not plain Uint8Array), and its
+ * own encode() then fails to recognise a Buffer as a byte string at all -- silently mis-encoding it as a
+ * generic object instead. A capability token's own signature verification re-encodes its protected-header
+ * and payload byte strings (COSE's Sig_structure) to check the signature, so a token received over this raw
+ * Buffer-backed socket previously failed that re-encode round trip -- and therefore failed signature
+ * verification -- despite the token's bytes themselves crossing the wire perfectly intact. This test proves
+ * the wire path itself (not any one domain's use of it) by re-encoding a received byte string exactly the
+ * way Sig_structure reconstruction does, and checking it reproduces the pre-send bytes.
+ */
+describe("createTcpTransport byte-string re-encoding", () => {
+  it("hands received nested byte strings back out as re-encodable, not Buffer-corrupted", async () => {
+    const serverTransport = createTcpTransport();
+    const clientTransport = createTcpTransport();
+
+    let resolveAccepted: (connection: Connection) => void;
+    const accepted = new Promise<Connection>((resolve) => {
+      resolveAccepted = resolve;
+    });
+    const listener = await serverTransport.listen(
+      "127.0.0.1:0",
+      (connection) => {
+        resolveAccepted(connection);
+      },
+    );
+
+    const clientConnection = await clientTransport.connect(listener.address);
+    const serverConnection = await accepted;
+
+    const protectedHeader = fillerBytes(
+      PROTECTED_HEADER_LENGTH,
+      PROTECTED_HEADER_SEED,
+    );
+    const payload = fillerBytes(PAYLOAD_LENGTH, PAYLOAD_SEED);
+    const signature = fillerBytes(SIGNATURE_LENGTH, SIGNATURE_SEED);
+
+    const REQUEST_ID = 1;
+    const frame: ManageRequestFrame = {
+      type: "manage-request",
+      "request-id": REQUEST_ID,
+      command: { verb: "room:member", params: { verb: "room.join" } },
+      scope: { kind: "room", path: "test" },
+      token: [protectedHeader, {}, payload, signature],
+    };
+
+    const receivedFramePromise = (async () => {
+      for await (const oneFrame of serverConnection.receive()) {
+        return oneFrame;
+      }
+      throw new Error("connection closed before a frame arrived");
+    })();
+
+    await clientConnection.send(frame);
+    const receivedFrame = await receivedFramePromise;
+    if (
+      receivedFrame.type !== "manage-request" ||
+      receivedFrame.token === undefined
+    ) {
+      throw new Error("expected a manage-request frame carrying a token");
+    }
+    const [receivedProtectedHeader, , receivedPayload] = receivedFrame.token;
+
+    // The actual defect: re-encoding a received byte string the way COSE's Sig1-to-be-signed
+    // reconstruction does must reproduce exactly what encoding the original, pre-send byte string
+    // produces -- a Buffer-corrupted decode instead serializes it as an object, so this comparison
+    // is where the bug actually manifested.
+    const originalEncoded = encode(
+      ["Signature1", protectedHeader, new Uint8Array(0), payload],
+      cdeEncodeOptions,
+    );
+    const receivedEncoded = encode(
+      [
+        "Signature1",
+        receivedProtectedHeader,
+        new Uint8Array(0),
+        receivedPayload,
+      ],
+      cdeEncodeOptions,
+    );
+    expect(
+      Buffer.from(receivedEncoded).equals(Buffer.from(originalEncoded)),
+    ).toBe(true);
+
+    await clientConnection.close();
+    await listener.close();
+  });
+});