diff --git a/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc3.c b/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc3.c
index 6a88b68e6ae8..66f71ffe1c5c 100644
--- a/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc3.c
+++ b/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc3.c
@@ -157,8 +157,11 @@ int volume_init(struct processing_module *mod)
 		break;
 	default:
 		comp_err(dev, "invalid ramp type %d", vol->ramp);
-		mod_free(mod, cd);
+		/* free cd->vol before cd: freeing cd first would leave the
+		 * following cd->vol read dereferencing freed memory
+		 */
 		mod_free(mod, cd->vol);
+		mod_free(mod, cd);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc4.c b/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc4.c
index 57a5f427903e..ca694b908338 100644
--- a/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc4.c
+++ b/src/audio/volume/volume_ipc4.c
@@ -127,6 +127,15 @@ int volume_init(struct processing_module *mod)
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}
 
+	/* the per-channel config[] array is read below for every channel, so
+	 * the init payload must be large enough to hold them all
+	 */
+	if (cfg->size < sizeof(*vol) + channels_count * sizeof(vol->config[0])) {
+		comp_err(dev, "Invalid init payload size %zu for %u channels",
+			 cfg->size, channels_count);
+		return -EINVAL;
+	}
+
 	cd = mod_zalloc(mod, sizeof(struct vol_data));
 	if (!cd)
 		return -ENOMEM;
@@ -268,8 +277,10 @@ static int volume_set_attenuation(struct processing_module *mod, const uint8_t *
 	struct comp_dev *dev = mod->dev;
 	uint32_t attenuation;
 
-	/* only support attenuation in format of 32bit */
-	if (data_size > sizeof(uint32_t)) {
+	/* only support attenuation in format of 32bit; the payload is
+	 * dereferenced as a uint32_t below so it must be exactly that size
+	 */
+	if (data_size < (int)sizeof(uint32_t) || data_size > sizeof(uint32_t)) {
 		comp_err(dev, "attenuation data size %d is incorrect", data_size);
 		return -EINVAL;
 	}