diff --git a/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set b/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set
index 1fd70d50..56426f1f 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set
+++ b/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set
@@ -51,6 +51,15 @@ theme_dir="/usr/share/plymouth/themes/omarchy"
 staging_dir=$(mktemp -d)
 trap 'rm -rf "$staging_dir"' EXIT
 
+# Publish a staged asset without ever asking a privileged process to resolve
+# its user-writable source path. The shell opens source before sudo starts, so
+# the inherited descriptor pins the bytes and a replacement symlink to a
+# root-only file either loses the race or fails under the caller's permissions.
+publish_asset() {
+  local source="$1" destination="$2"
+  sudo tee "$destination" <"$source" >/dev/null && sudo chmod 0644 "$destination"
+}
+
 find "$OMARCHY_PATH/default/plymouth" -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec cp -t "$staging_dir/" {} +
 cp "$logo_path" "$staging_dir/logo.png"
 
@@ -63,7 +72,9 @@ for asset in bullet.png entry.png lock.png progress_bar.png; do
   magick "$staging_dir/$asset" -channel RGB +level-colors "#$text_hex","#$text_hex" "$staging_dir/$asset"
 done
 
-sudo cp -a --no-preserve=mode,ownership "$staging_dir/." "$theme_dir/"
+for asset in bullet.png entry.png lock.png logo.png omarchy.plymouth omarchy.script preview-unlock.png progress_bar.png progress_box.png; do
+  publish_asset "$staging_dir/$asset" "$theme_dir/$asset" || exit 1
+done
 sudo plymouth-set-default-theme omarchy
 
 if omarchy-cmd-present limine-mkinitcpio; then
@@ -81,12 +92,12 @@ sed \
   -e "s/#ffffff/#$text_hex/g" \
   "$sddm_template" | sudo tee "$sddm_dir/Main.qml" >/dev/null
 
-sudo cp "$staging_dir/logo.png" "$sddm_dir/logo.png"
+publish_asset "$staging_dir/logo.png" "$sddm_dir/logo.png" || exit 1
 for asset in bullet.png entry.png lock.png; do
-  sudo cp "$staging_dir/$asset" "$sddm_dir/$asset"
+  publish_asset "$staging_dir/$asset" "$sddm_dir/$asset" || exit 1
 done
 for asset in entry lock; do
   magick "$staging_dir/$asset.png" -channel RGB +level-colors "#f7768e","#f7768e" "$staging_dir/$asset-failed.png"
-  sudo cp "$staging_dir/$asset-failed.png" "$sddm_dir/$asset-failed.png"
+  publish_asset "$staging_dir/$asset-failed.png" "$sddm_dir/$asset-failed.png" || exit 1
 done
 sudo rm -f "$sddm_dir/logo.svg"
diff --git a/test/shell.d/plymouth-set-test.sh b/test/shell.d/plymouth-set-test.sh
index eb8b120b..56b6447e 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/plymouth-set-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/plymouth-set-test.sh
@@ -3,30 +3,11 @@
 source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/base-test.sh"
 
 test_tmp=$(mktemp -d)
-trap 'rm -rf "$test_tmp"' EXIT
-
-source_dir="$test_tmp/source"
-theme_dir="$test_tmp/theme"
-
-mkdir -m 0700 "$source_dir"
-mkdir -m 0755 "$theme_dir"
-touch "$source_dir/logo.png"
-
-cp -a --no-preserve=mode,ownership "$source_dir/." "$theme_dir/"
-
-[[ $(stat -c %a "$theme_dir") == "755" ]] ||
-  fail "Plymouth asset copy preserves the theme directory permissions"
-
-grep -Fq \
-  'cp -a --no-preserve=mode,ownership "$staging_dir/." "$theme_dir/"' \
-  "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set" ||
-  fail "omarchy-plymouth-set avoids copying staging directory ownership and mode"
-
-pass "Plymouth asset copy preserves the package-owned directory metadata"
+trap 'chmod 0600 "$test_tmp/secret" 2>/dev/null || true; rm -rf "$test_tmp"' EXIT
 
 # omarchy-plymouth-set-by-theme hands over a theme's unlock.png from
-# ~/.config/omarchy/themes, and both copies below land in world-readable
-# /usr/share, so a symlink there would republish whatever it points at.
+# ~/.config/omarchy/themes. Both installed copies are world-readable, so a
+# symlink there must not republish whatever it points at.
 secret="$test_tmp/secret"
 printf 'not yours\n' >"$secret"
 ln -s "$secret" "$test_tmp/logo-link.png"
@@ -34,12 +15,9 @@ ln -s "$secret" "$test_tmp/logo-link.png"
 output=$(OMARCHY_PATH="$ROOT" bash "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set" '#1d2021' '#ebdbb2' "$test_tmp/logo-link.png" 2>&1)
 status=$?
 
-(( status != 0 )) || fail "omarchy-plymouth-set refuses a symlinked logo"
+((status != 0)) || fail "omarchy-plymouth-set refuses a symlinked logo"
 [[ $output == *"symlink"* ]] || fail "omarchy-plymouth-set says why it refused the logo" "$output"
 
-grep -Fq 'sudo cp "$staging_dir/logo.png" "$sddm_dir/logo.png"' "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set" ||
-  fail "omarchy-plymouth-set copies the staged logo to SDDM rather than rereading the caller's path as root"
-
 pass "a themed logo cannot republish a file it merely points at"
 
 # Style > Unlock picks a theme by name and hands the answer to
@@ -141,3 +119,103 @@ run_unlock_action "default"
 [[ ! -e $set_args ]] || fail "picking default does not look up a theme named default" "$(cat "$set_args")"
 
 pass "the unlock picker still applies a theme and still resets on default"
+
+# Exercise the full publisher with sudo and ImageMagick shims. Immediately
+# after the unprivileged shell opens each staged source, the sudo shim renames
+# that source away and replaces its pathname with a symlink to a simulated
+# root-only secret. Reading via the inherited stdin descriptor must still
+# publish the original bytes. The shim restores the source after each read so
+# every Plymouth and SDDM asset gets attacked independently.
+fake_bin="$test_tmp/bin"
+fake_root="$test_tmp/root"
+stages="$test_tmp/stages"
+attack_log="$test_tmp/attacked"
+sudo_log="$test_tmp/sudo.log"
+mkdir -p "$fake_bin" "$fake_root" "$stages"
+
+cat >"$fake_bin/sudo" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+printf '%s\n' "$*" >>"$TEST_SUDO_LOG"
+
+case "$1" in
+tee)
+  destination="$2"
+  mapped="$TEST_FAKE_ROOT$destination"
+  mkdir -p "$(dirname -- "$mapped")"
+
+  stage=$(find "$TEST_STAGES" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 2 -type f -name omarchy.script -printf '%h\n' | head -n1)
+  asset=$(basename -- "$destination")
+  source="$stage/$asset"
+  pinned="$stage/.pinned-$asset"
+
+  if [[ -n $stage && -f $source && ! -L $source ]]; then
+    mv -T -- "$source" "$pinned"
+    ln -s "$TEST_SECRET" "$source"
+    printf '%s\n' "$asset" >>"$TEST_ATTACK_LOG"
+    /usr/bin/tee "$mapped"
+    result=$?
+    rm -f -- "$source"
+    mv -T -- "$pinned" "$source"
+    exit "$result"
+  fi
+  exec /usr/bin/tee "$mapped"
+  ;;
+chmod)
+  exec /usr/bin/chmod "$2" "$TEST_FAKE_ROOT$3"
+  ;;
+rm)
+  destination=${@: -1}
+  exec /usr/bin/rm -f -- "$TEST_FAKE_ROOT$destination"
+  ;;
+plymouth-set-default-theme | limine-mkinitcpio | mkinitcpio)
+  exit 0
+  ;;
+*)
+  echo "unexpected sudo command: $*" >&2
+  exit 1
+  ;;
+esac
+SH
+
+cat >"$fake_bin/magick" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+source="$1"
+destination=${@: -1}
+[[ $source == "$destination" ]] || /usr/bin/cp -- "$source" "$destination"
+SH
+
+cat >"$fake_bin/omarchy-cmd-present" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+exit 1
+SH
+chmod +x "$fake_bin"/*
+
+printf 'SIMULATED ROOT-ONLY SECRET\n' >"$secret"
+printf 'caller-selected logo\n' >"$test_tmp/logo.png"
+
+output=$(PATH="$fake_bin:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
+  TMPDIR="$stages" \
+  OMARCHY_PATH="$ROOT" \
+  TEST_FAKE_ROOT="$fake_root" \
+  TEST_STAGES="$stages" \
+  TEST_SECRET="$secret" \
+  TEST_ATTACK_LOG="$attack_log" \
+  TEST_SUDO_LOG="$sudo_log" \
+  bash "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-plymouth-set" '#1d2021' '#ebdbb2' "$test_tmp/logo.png" 2>&1)
+status=$?
+
+((status == 0)) || fail "Plymouth publisher succeeds while staged paths are swapped" "$output"
+
+expected_assets=$'bullet.png\nentry-failed.png\nentry.png\nlock-failed.png\nlock.png\nlogo.png\nomarchy.plymouth\nomarchy.script\npreview-unlock.png\nprogress_bar.png\nprogress_box.png'
+actual_assets=$(sort -u "$attack_log")
+[[ $actual_assets == "$expected_assets" ]] || fail "every staged asset is raced at its privileged publication" "$actual_assets"
+
+! grep -Rqs 'SIMULATED ROOT-ONLY SECRET' "$fake_root" || fail "a replacement symlink was published"
+grep -Fq 'caller-selected logo' "$fake_root/usr/share/plymouth/themes/omarchy/logo.png" || fail "the descriptor did not preserve the selected logo bytes"
+[[ $(stat -c %a "$fake_root/usr/share/plymouth/themes/omarchy") == 755 ]] || fail "fixed-file publication changed the theme directory mode"
+
+if grep -F "$stages/" "$sudo_log" >/dev/null; then
+  fail "a privileged command received a pathname inside the user-writable stage" "$(cat "$sudo_log")"
+fi
+
+pass "privileged publication uses pinned descriptors for every staged asset"