diff --git a/pam/pam_authforge_pending.c b/pam/pam_authforge_pending.c
index ae2835e..795e8ed 100644
--- a/pam/pam_authforge_pending.c
+++ b/pam/pam_authforge_pending.c
@@ -1,14 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ * pam_authforge_pending.so — backstop for AuthForge first-login enrollment.
+ *
+ * Behavior:
+ *   1. Read PAM_USER.
+ *   2. Reject usernames that would let the path computation escape
+ *      /var/lib/authforge/pending/.
+ *   3. stat() /var/lib/authforge/pending/<user>.
+ *        - present  -> emit user-facing message + return PAM_AUTH_ERR.
+ *        - ENOENT   -> return PAM_IGNORE (let the rest of the stack decide).
+ *        - other    -> log + return PAM_AUTH_ERR (fail closed).
+ *
+ * Recovery codes (Phase 12) wire into a separate hook that's a no-op here.
+ */
+
 #define PAM_SM_AUTH
 #include <security/pam_modules.h>
 #include <security/pam_ext.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
+
+#include <errno.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <syslog.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+#define PENDING_DIR  "/var/lib/authforge/pending/"
+#define USER_MSG     "Account setup incomplete. Please complete enrollment in the Authentication app."
+
+static int username_is_safe(const char *u) {
+    if (u == NULL || u[0] == '\0') return 0;
+    if (strcmp(u, ".") == 0 || strcmp(u, "..") == 0) return 0;
+    for (const char *p = u; *p; ++p) {
+        if (*p == '/') return 0;
+    }
+    /* Reject any '..' substring as a defense-in-depth measure. */
+    if (strstr(u, "..") != NULL) return 0;
+    return 1;
+}
+
+static int pending_flag_present(const char *user) {
+    char path[1024];
+    int n = snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s%s", PENDING_DIR, user);
+    if (n < 0 || (size_t)n >= sizeof(path)) return -1;
+    struct stat st;
+    if (stat(path, &st) == 0) return 1;
+    if (errno == ENOENT) return 0;
+    return -1;
+}
 
 PAM_EXTERN int pam_sm_authenticate(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags,
                                     int argc, const char **argv) {
     (void)flags; (void)argc; (void)argv;
-    pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_INFO, "authforge_pending: stub - allowing");
-    return PAM_IGNORE; /* implemented in Phase 6 */
+
+    const char *user = NULL;
+    if (pam_get_user(pamh, &user, NULL) != PAM_SUCCESS || user == NULL) {
+        pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_ERR, "authforge_pending: pam_get_user failed");
+        return PAM_AUTH_ERR;
+    }
+    if (!username_is_safe(user)) {
+        pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_ERR, "authforge_pending: rejected unsafe username");
+        return PAM_AUTH_ERR;
+    }
+
+    int present = pending_flag_present(user);
+    if (present < 0) {
+        pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_ERR, "authforge_pending: stat error for %s (errno=%d)", user, errno);
+        return PAM_AUTH_ERR; /* fail closed */
+    }
+    if (present == 0) {
+        return PAM_IGNORE;
+    }
+
+    pam_error(pamh, "%s", USER_MSG);
+    pam_syslog(pamh, LOG_INFO, "authforge_pending: denied %s (pending flag present)", user);
+    return PAM_AUTH_ERR;
 }
 
 PAM_EXTERN int pam_sm_setcred(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags,