diff --git a/packages/beacon-node/src/network/reqresp/handlers/index.ts b/packages/beacon-node/src/network/reqresp/handlers/index.ts
index 4035aa508009..72e1f02fc7f2 100644
--- a/packages/beacon-node/src/network/reqresp/handlers/index.ts
+++ b/packages/beacon-node/src/network/reqresp/handlers/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import {ProtocolHandler} from "@lodestar/reqresp";
+import type {Type} from "@chainsafe/ssz";
+import {ProtocolHandler, RespStatus, ResponseError} from "@lodestar/reqresp";
 import {ssz} from "@lodestar/types";
 import {IBeaconChain} from "../../../chain/index.js";
 import {IBeaconDb} from "../../../db/index.js";
@@ -29,6 +30,14 @@ function notImplemented(method: ReqRespMethod): ProtocolHandler {
   };
 }
 
+function deserializeRequestBody<T>(type: Type<T>, data: Uint8Array): T {
+  try {
+    return type.deserialize(data);
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw new ResponseError(RespStatus.INVALID_REQUEST, e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e));
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * The ReqRespHandler module handles app-level requests / responses from other peers,
  * fetching state from the chain and database as needed.
@@ -40,51 +49,51 @@ export function getReqRespHandlers({db, chain}: {db: IBeaconDb; chain: IBeaconCh
     [ReqRespMethod.Ping]: notImplemented(ReqRespMethod.Ping),
     [ReqRespMethod.Metadata]: notImplemented(ReqRespMethod.Metadata),
     [ReqRespMethod.BeaconBlocksByRange]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = ssz.phase0.BeaconBlocksByRangeRequest.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.phase0.BeaconBlocksByRangeRequest, req.data);
       return onBeaconBlocksByRange(body, chain, db, peerId, peerClient);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.BeaconBlocksByRoot]: (req) => {
       const fork = chain.config.getForkName(chain.clock.currentSlot);
-      const body = BeaconBlocksByRootRequestType(fork, chain.config).deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(BeaconBlocksByRootRequestType(fork, chain.config), req.data);
       return onBeaconBlocksByRoot(body, chain);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.BeaconBlocksByHead]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = ssz.fulu.BeaconBlocksByHeadRequest.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.fulu.BeaconBlocksByHeadRequest, req.data);
       return onBeaconBlocksByHead(body, chain, peerId, peerClient);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.BlobSidecarsByRoot]: (req) => {
       const fork = chain.config.getForkName(chain.clock.currentSlot);
-      const body = BlobSidecarsByRootRequestType(fork, chain.config).deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(BlobSidecarsByRootRequestType(fork, chain.config), req.data);
       return onBlobSidecarsByRoot(body, chain);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.BlobSidecarsByRange]: (req) => {
-      const body = ssz.deneb.BlobSidecarsByRangeRequest.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.deneb.BlobSidecarsByRangeRequest, req.data);
       return onBlobSidecarsByRange(body, chain, db);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.DataColumnSidecarsByRange]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = ssz.fulu.DataColumnSidecarsByRangeRequest.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.fulu.DataColumnSidecarsByRangeRequest, req.data);
       return onDataColumnSidecarsByRange(body, chain, db, peerId, peerClient);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.DataColumnSidecarsByRoot]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = DataColumnSidecarsByRootRequestType(chain.config).deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(DataColumnSidecarsByRootRequestType(chain.config), req.data);
       return onDataColumnSidecarsByRoot(body, chain, db, peerId, peerClient);
     },
 
     [ReqRespMethod.ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRoot]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRootRequestType(chain.config).deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRootRequestType(chain.config), req.data);
       return onExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRoot(body, chain, db, peerId, peerClient);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRange]: (req, peerId, peerClient) => {
-      const body = ssz.gloas.ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRangeRequest.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.gloas.ExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRangeRequest, req.data);
       return onExecutionPayloadEnvelopesByRange(body, chain, db, peerId, peerClient);
     },
 
     [ReqRespMethod.LightClientBootstrap]: (req) => {
-      const body = ssz.Root.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.Root, req.data);
       return onLightClientBootstrap(body, chain);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.LightClientUpdatesByRange]: (req) => {
-      const body = ssz.altair.LightClientUpdatesByRange.deserialize(req.data);
+      const body = deserializeRequestBody(ssz.altair.LightClientUpdatesByRange, req.data);
       return onLightClientUpdatesByRange(body, chain);
     },
     [ReqRespMethod.LightClientFinalityUpdate]: () => onLightClientFinalityUpdate(chain),
diff --git a/packages/beacon-node/test/unit/network/reqresp/handlers/index.test.ts b/packages/beacon-node/test/unit/network/reqresp/handlers/index.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7744332d441b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/beacon-node/test/unit/network/reqresp/handlers/index.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import {describe, expect, it} from "vitest";
+import {config} from "@lodestar/config/default";
+import {RespStatus, ResponseError} from "@lodestar/reqresp";
+import {IBeaconChain} from "../../../../../src/chain/index.js";
+import {IBeaconDb} from "../../../../../src/db/index.js";
+import {getReqRespHandlers} from "../../../../../src/network/reqresp/handlers/index.js";
+import {ReqRespMethod} from "../../../../../src/network/reqresp/types.js";
+
+describe("network / reqresp / handlers", () => {
+  it("rejects malformed DataColumnSidecarsByRoot request bytes as invalid request", () => {
+    const handler = getReqRespHandlers({
+      chain: {config} as unknown as IBeaconChain,
+      db: {} as IBeaconDb,
+    })(ReqRespMethod.DataColumnSidecarsByRoot);
+
+    try {
+      handler({data: Buffer.alloc(20), version: 1}, undefined as never, "test");
+      expect.fail("expected malformed request bytes to be rejected");
+    } catch (e) {
+      expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(ResponseError);
+      expect((e as ResponseError).status).toBe(RespStatus.INVALID_REQUEST);
+    }
+  });
+});