diff --git a/der/src/error.rs b/der/src/error.rs
index e9f914695..9acf950fb 100644
--- a/der/src/error.rs
+++ b/der/src/error.rs
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ pub enum ErrorKind {
     #[cfg(feature = "std")]
     Io(std::io::ErrorKind),
 
-    /// Indefinite length disallowed (or malformed when decoding BER)
+    /// Indefinite length invalid (disallowed in DER or malformed when decoding BER)
     IndefiniteLength,
 
     /// Incorrect length for a given field.
@@ -241,6 +241,9 @@ pub enum ErrorKind {
         tag: Tag,
     },
 
+    /// Too many nested productions (i.e. TLV-in-TLV) encountered.
+    NestingDepth,
+
     /// Message is not canonically encoded.
     Noncanonical {
         /// Tag of the value which is not canonically encoded.
@@ -373,6 +376,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for ErrorKind {
             ErrorKind::Io(err) => write!(f, "I/O error: {err:?}"),
             ErrorKind::IndefiniteLength => write!(f, "indefinite length disallowed/malformed"),
             ErrorKind::Length { tag } => write!(f, "incorrect length for {tag}"),
+            ErrorKind::NestingDepth => write!(f, "too many nested productions encountered"),
             ErrorKind::Noncanonical { tag } => {
                 write!(f, "ASN.1 {tag} not canonically encoded as DER")
             }
diff --git a/der/src/reader/position.rs b/der/src/reader/position.rs
index 46388389d..0d160a291 100644
--- a/der/src/reader/position.rs
+++ b/der/src/reader/position.rs
@@ -10,14 +10,21 @@ pub(super) struct Position {
 
     /// Position in the input buffer (in bytes after Base64 decoding).
     position: Length,
+
+    /// Number of nested productions encountered (i.e. depth in the call stack).
+    depth: usize,
 }
 
 impl Position {
+    /// Maximum number of nested messages we tolerate (prevents stack exhaustion).
+    const MAX_DEPTH: usize = 64;
+
     /// Create a new position tracker with the given overall length.
     pub(super) fn new(input_len: Length) -> Self {
         Self {
             input_len,
             position: Length::ZERO,
+            depth: 0,
         }
     }
 
@@ -44,6 +51,11 @@ impl Position {
         self.position
     }
 
+    /// Create new [`Error`] from the given [`ErrorKind`] which includes the current position.
+    pub(super) fn error(&mut self, kind: ErrorKind) -> Error {
+        kind.at(self.position)
+    }
+
     /// Get the input length.
     pub(super) fn input_len(&self) -> Length {
         self.input_len
@@ -61,6 +73,11 @@ impl Position {
     ///
     /// A [`Resumption`] value which can be used to continue parsing the outer message.
     pub(super) fn split_nested(&mut self, len: Length) -> Result<Resumption> {
+        match self.depth.checked_add(1) {
+            Some(depth) if depth < Self::MAX_DEPTH => self.depth = depth,
+            _ => return Err(self.error(ErrorKind::NestingDepth)),
+        }
+
         let nested_input_len = (self.position + len)?;
 
         if nested_input_len > self.input_len {
@@ -77,6 +94,7 @@ impl Position {
     /// Resume processing the rest of a message after processing a nested inner portion.
     pub(super) fn resume_nested(&mut self, resumption: Resumption) {
         self.input_len = resumption.input_len;
+        self.depth = self.depth.saturating_sub(1);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/der/src/reader/slice.rs b/der/src/reader/slice.rs
index e4462a42a..4e5a7c4d5 100644
--- a/der/src/reader/slice.rs
+++ b/der/src/reader/slice.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ impl<'a> SliceReader<'a> {
     /// error occurred.
     pub fn error(&mut self, kind: ErrorKind) -> Error {
         self.failed = true;
-        kind.at(self.position.current())
+        self.position.error(kind)
     }
 
     /// Did the decoding operation fail due to an error?
diff --git a/der/tests/nesting.rs b/der/tests/nesting.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d8e81e703
--- /dev/null
+++ b/der/tests/nesting.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+//! Tests for handling of nested messages.
+
+use der::{Decode, Error, ErrorKind, Header, Reader, SliceReader, Tag, asn1::AnyRef};
+
+// This is the expected maximum depth.
+// TODO(tarcieri): expose this as a constant in the public API?
+const MAX_DEPTH: usize = 64;
+
+fn walk<'a>(reader: &mut SliceReader<'a>) -> Result<AnyRef<'a>, Error> {
+    let header = Header::peek(reader)?;
+    if header.tag() == Tag::Sequence {
+        reader.sequence(|r| walk(r)) // der::read_nested recursion
+    } else {
+        AnyRef::decode(reader)
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[allow(clippy::cast_possible_truncation, reason = "test")]
+fn returns_nesting_depth_error_when_max_depth_encountered() {
+    let depth = MAX_DEPTH + 1;
+
+    let mut buf = vec![0x05, 0x00]; // innermost NULL
+    for _ in 0..depth {
+        let len = buf.len();
+        let mut next = Vec::with_capacity(len + 5);
+        next.push(0x30);
+        if len < 0x80 {
+            next.push(len as u8);
+        } else if len <= 0xFF {
+            next.push(0x81);
+            next.push(len as u8);
+        } else if len <= 0xFFFF {
+            next.push(0x82);
+            next.push((len >> 8) as u8);
+            next.push(len as u8);
+        } else {
+            next.push(0x83);
+            next.push((len >> 16) as u8);
+            next.push((len >> 8) as u8);
+            next.push(len as u8);
+        }
+        next.extend_from_slice(&buf);
+        buf = next;
+    }
+
+    let mut reader = SliceReader::new(&buf).unwrap();
+    let err = walk(&mut reader).expect_err("should return ErrorKind::NestingDepth");
+    assert_eq!(err.kind(), ErrorKind::NestingDepth);
+}