diff --git a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display-apple b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display-apple
index 81202b87..c9cce2ff 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display-apple
+++ b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display-apple
@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@
 # omarchy:args=[--no-osd] [+N%|N%-|N%]
 # omarchy:examples=omarchy brightness display apple | omarchy brightness display apple +5% | omarchy brightness display apple --no-osd 50%
 
-device_cache="${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/tmp}/omarchy-brightness-display-apple.device"
+# Only cache under the user-private runtime dir. With no XDG_RUNTIME_DIR we skip
+# caching (detect every run) rather than fall back to a predictable, world-writable
+# /tmp path another user could pre-create.
+device_cache=""
+if [[ -n ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-} ]]; then
+  device_cache="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/omarchy-brightness-display-apple.device"
+fi
 no_osd=0
 if [[ ${1:-} == "--no-osd" ]]; then
   no_osd=1
@@ -28,9 +34,14 @@ find_apple_display_device() {
   local cached=""
   local device=""
 
-  if [[ -r $device_cache ]]; then
+  if [[ -n $device_cache && -r $device_cache ]]; then
     read -r cached <"$device_cache" || true
-    if [[ -n $cached && -e $cached ]]; then
+    # Trust a cached value only if it still names a hiddev character device. A
+    # stale or unexpected cache (a regular file, a non-hiddev node) is ignored and
+    # we re-detect instead of handing an arbitrary path to asdcontrol. The globs
+    # are left unquoted on purpose: [[ ]] pattern-matches an unquoted right side,
+    # and quoting them would turn the match into a literal string comparison.
+    if [[ ( $cached == /dev/hiddev* || $cached == /dev/usb/hiddev* ) && -c $cached ]]; then
       printf '%s\n' "$cached"
       return 0
     fi
@@ -39,7 +50,9 @@ find_apple_display_device() {
   device="$(detect_apple_display_device)" || return 1
   [[ -n $device ]] || return 1
 
-  printf '%s\n' "$device" >"$device_cache"
+  if [[ -n $device_cache ]]; then
+    printf '%s\n' "$device" >"$device_cache"
+  fi
   printf '%s\n' "$device"
 }
 
diff --git a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-apple-cache-test.sh b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-apple-cache-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..18b65cd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-apple-cache-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source "$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/base-test.sh"
+
+TMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
+# The /tmp-fallback case (below) must place its decoy at exactly the fixed path the
+# old wrapper would have formed, so it cannot use a random mktemp name. Track whether
+# we created it and remove it on exit only then -- never touch a path we did not create.
+tmp_cache="/tmp/omarchy-brightness-display-apple.device"
+created_tmp_cache=0
+
+cleanup() {
+  rm -rf "$TMPDIR"
+  # Remove the /tmp decoy only if this test is the one that created it.
+  if (( created_tmp_cache )); then
+    rm -f "$tmp_cache"
+  fi
+}
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+# Stubs on PATH: drop sudo so asdcontrol runs directly, record every asdcontrol
+# invocation, make detection deterministic by having --detect report no device,
+# and no-op the OSD. On a host without any /dev/*hiddev* node the wrapper's
+# detect_apple_display_device returns before it ever runs asdcontrol, so the
+# reject cases assert on the negative: a refused cache value is never handed to
+# `asdcontrol <dev> -- <step>`. Blind-trust validation would hand it over and be
+# caught here.
+stub_dir="$TMPDIR/stubs"
+mkdir -p "$stub_dir"
+
+asd_log="$TMPDIR/asdcontrol.log"
+
+cat >"$stub_dir/sudo" <<'STUB'
+#!/bin/bash
+exec "$@"
+STUB
+chmod +x "$stub_dir/sudo"
+
+cat >"$stub_dir/asdcontrol" <<STUB
+#!/bin/bash
+printf '%s\n' "\$*" >>"$asd_log"
+# --detect reports nothing, so detection never yields a device.
+if [[ \$1 == "--detect" ]]; then
+  exit 0
+fi
+# A brightness read (a lone device arg) returns a plausible value; a set
+# (<device> -- <step>) just succeeds.
+if [[ \$# -eq 1 ]]; then
+  printf '%s: BRIGHTNESS=30000\n' "\$1"
+fi
+exit 0
+STUB
+chmod +x "$stub_dir/asdcontrol"
+
+cat >"$stub_dir/omarchy-osd" <<'STUB'
+#!/bin/bash
+exit 0
+STUB
+chmod +x "$stub_dir/omarchy-osd"
+
+run_wrapper() {
+  # $1: value for XDG_RUNTIME_DIR ("" means unset); remaining args go to the wrapper.
+  local xdg="$1"
+  shift
+  : >"$asd_log"
+  if [[ -n $xdg ]]; then
+    XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$xdg" PATH="$stub_dir:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
+      omarchy-brightness-display-apple "$@" 2>&1 || true
+  else
+    env -u XDG_RUNTIME_DIR PATH="$stub_dir:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
+      omarchy-brightness-display-apple "$@" 2>&1 || true
+  fi
+}
+
+# --- A cache value that is not a hiddev character device is rejected ----------
+xdg_dir="$TMPDIR/xdg"
+mkdir -p "$xdg_dir"
+cache_file="$xdg_dir/omarchy-brightness-display-apple.device"
+
+regular_file="$TMPDIR/not-a-device"
+: >"$regular_file"
+
+poisons=("/dev/null" "$regular_file" "/tmp/omarchy-evil")
+
+# The cases above all fail on the pathname prefix, so none of them reaches the -c
+# test -- drop `&& -c $cached` from the wrapper and they all still pass. A path
+# that matches the hiddev glob but is not a character device is what -c is for,
+# and it is the realistic stale cache: the display replugs, the interface
+# renumbers, and the cached node is simply gone. Add it only when the host really
+# has no such node, so a machine with the display attached cannot fail here.
+if [[ ! -e /dev/hiddev999 ]]; then
+  poisons+=("/dev/hiddev999")
+fi
+
+for poison in "${poisons[@]}"; do
+  printf '%s\n' "$poison" >"$cache_file"
+  output=$(run_wrapper "$xdg_dir" "+5%")
+  if grep -qF -- "$poison -- +5%" "$asd_log"; then
+    fail "wrapper handed a non-hiddev cache value to asdcontrol: $poison" "$output"
+  fi
+done
+pass "wrapper rejects a cached path that is not a hiddev character device"
+
+# NOTE: the /dev/hiddev999 case above covers the -c test for a glob-matching path
+# that does not exist. The remaining arm -- a path under /dev that exists, matches
+# the glob, and is not a character device -- cannot be built without root, since
+# only real device nodes live there.
+
+# --- A legitimate cached hiddev node is trusted (only where HW is present) ----
+real_hiddev=""
+for candidate in /dev/usb/hiddev* /dev/hiddev*; do
+  if [[ -c $candidate ]]; then
+    real_hiddev="$candidate"
+    break
+  fi
+done
+if [[ -n $real_hiddev ]]; then
+  printf '%s\n' "$real_hiddev" >"$cache_file"
+  run_wrapper "$xdg_dir" "+5%" >/dev/null
+  grep -qF -- "$real_hiddev -- +5%" "$asd_log" ||
+    fail "wrapper did not trust a valid cached hiddev node: $real_hiddev"
+  pass "wrapper trusts a cached hiddev character device without re-detecting"
+else
+  pass "no /dev/hiddev* character device present; skipping the valid-cache case"
+fi
+
+# --- With no XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, the predictable /tmp cache is not consulted ------
+# Assert on the open, not on the contents. A decoy holding a rejectable path proves
+# nothing: the validation above refuses it whether or not the /tmp fallback is still
+# there, so that assertion passes against both wrappers. A FIFO with no writer blocks
+# whoever opens it, so a wrapper that consults the path hangs and one that ignores it
+# exits -- which separates the two. mkfifo is atomic and fails outright if the path is
+# taken, so it neither overwrites a file nor follows a symlink; the fixed path is
+# required, being exactly the path the old code would have formed. Clear the flag as
+# soon as the decoy is gone, so a concurrent run's decoy cannot be removed by this
+# run's EXIT trap.
+if mkfifo "$tmp_cache" 2>/dev/null; then
+  created_tmp_cache=1
+  status=0
+  env -u XDG_RUNTIME_DIR PATH="$stub_dir:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
+    timeout 5 omarchy-brightness-display-apple "+5%" >/dev/null 2>&1 || status=$?
+  rm -f "$tmp_cache"
+  created_tmp_cache=0
+  (( status != 124 )) ||
+    fail "wrapper consulted the world-writable /tmp cache with no XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" \
+      "it blocked reading the FIFO decoy at $tmp_cache"
+  pass "wrapper ignores the /tmp cache path when XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is unset"
+else
+  pass "$tmp_cache already present or not safely creatable; skipping the /tmp-fallback case"
+fi