diff --git a/src/sandbox/listen-in-range.ts b/src/sandbox/listen-in-range.ts
index 264ad9f9..2b41aea9 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/listen-in-range.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox/listen-in-range.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,21 @@
+/**
+ * Listen options for srt's loopback listeners.
+ *
+ * `exclusive` keeps the handle out of Node's cluster sharing. srt is a
+ * one-process-one-proxy design — the mux backend binds a pid-scoped unix
+ * socket and each process mints its own proxyAuthToken — but under `cluster`
+ * a plain listen() is intercepted by the primary, which shares one handle
+ * across workers and round robins connections. A sandboxed child of worker A
+ * would then reach worker B's proxy carrying A's token and get a 407.
+ */
+export function loopbackListenOptions(port: number): {
+  port: number
+  host: string
+  exclusive: true
+} {
+  return { port, host: '127.0.0.1', exclusive: true }
+}
+
 /**
  * Bind `server` to the first free port in `range`, retrying on EADDRINUSE.
  * With `range` undefined, binds to ephemeral port 0 once. The Windows WFP
diff --git a/src/sandbox/mux-proxy.ts b/src/sandbox/mux-proxy.ts
index ab1f3284..ef51934d 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/mux-proxy.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox/mux-proxy.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
 import { unlink } from 'node:fs/promises'
 import { logForDebugging } from '../utils/debug.js'
 import { getPlatform } from '../utils/platform.js'
-import { listenInRange } from './listen-in-range.js'
+import { listenInRange, loopbackListenOptions } from './listen-in-range.js'
 
 /**
  * First-byte values that select the SOCKS handler. SOCKS5's greeting is
@@ -196,9 +196,12 @@ export function createMuxProxyServer(opts: MuxProxyOptions): MuxProxyServer {
       // The mux→backend hop originates from the parent process (not the
       // sandboxed child), so WFP doesn't strictly require it; staying in
       // range just keeps the port surface predictable.
+      // Exclusive for the same reason as the front-end: under `cluster` a
+      // shared handle would let one worker's backend serve another's traffic,
+      // which the pid-scoped unix socket path already prevents elsewhere.
       await listenInRange(
         opts.httpServer,
-        p => opts.httpServer.listen(p, '127.0.0.1'),
+        p => opts.httpServer.listen(loopbackListenOptions(p)),
         opts.httpBackendPortRange,
         new Set(),
       )
diff --git a/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts b/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
index 3cf0d103..62f2de31 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
+++ b/src/sandbox/sandbox-manager.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { createHttpProxyServer } from './http-proxy.js'
 import { createSocksProxyServer } from './socks-proxy.js'
 import type { SocksProxyWrapper } from './socks-proxy.js'
 import { createMuxProxyServer, type MuxProxyServer } from './mux-proxy.js'
-import { listenInRange } from './listen-in-range.js'
+import { listenInRange, loopbackListenOptions } from './listen-in-range.js'
 import { SentinelRegistry } from './credential-sentinel.js'
 import {
   MaskedFileStore,
@@ -579,9 +579,16 @@ async function startMuxProxyServer(
   // dispatch to an unbound backend. On Windows the backend's port is
   // excluded when binding the front-end in the same WFP range.
   const backendPort = await mux.listenHttpBackend()
+  // `exclusive: true` keeps this listener out of Node's cluster handle
+  // sharing. srt is a one-process-one-proxy design — the backend socket is
+  // pid scoped and each process mints its own proxyAuthToken — but a plain
+  // listen() under `cluster` is intercepted by the primary, which shares one
+  // handle and round robins connections across workers. A sandboxed child of
+  // worker A then reaches worker B's proxy carrying A's token and is answered
+  // with 407.
   await listenInRange(
     mux.server,
-    p => mux.server.listen(p, '127.0.0.1'),
+    p => mux.server.listen(loopbackListenOptions(p)),
     portRange,
     backendPort !== undefined ? new Set([backendPort]) : new Set(),
   )
diff --git a/test/sandbox/mux-cluster-exclusive.test.ts b/test/sandbox/mux-cluster-exclusive.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5903c9c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sandbox/mux-cluster-exclusive.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test'
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process'
+import { mkdtemp, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { join } from 'node:path'
+import { promisify } from 'node:util'
+import { loopbackListenOptions } from '../../src/sandbox/listen-in-range.js'
+
+const run = promisify(execFile)
+
+/**
+ * gh-458: srt is a one-process-one-proxy design — the mux backend binds a
+ * pid-scoped unix socket and each process mints its own proxyAuthToken. A
+ * plain `listen(port, host)` breaks that: under Node's `cluster` the primary
+ * intercepts listen(), shares a single handle across workers and round robins
+ * connections. A sandboxed child of worker A then lands on worker B's proxy
+ * carrying A's token and is answered with 407.
+ *
+ * The listener must therefore be exclusive. This drives a real cluster rather
+ * than asserting on the shape of the call, so it fails if the flag is dropped.
+ */
+const WORKERS = 3
+
+const script = (exclusive: boolean) => `
+import cluster from 'node:cluster'
+import net from 'node:net'
+if (cluster.isPrimary) {
+  const ports = new Set()
+  let ready = 0
+  for (let i = 0; i < ${WORKERS}; i++) cluster.fork()
+  cluster.on('message', (w, m) => {
+    ports.add(m.port)
+    if (++ready === ${WORKERS}) {
+      console.log(ports.size)
+      for (const id in cluster.workers) cluster.workers[id].kill()
+      process.exit(0)
+    }
+  })
+} else {
+  const srv = net.createServer()
+  const done = () => process.send({ port: srv.address().port })
+  ${
+    exclusive
+      ? "srv.listen({ port: 0, host: '127.0.0.1', exclusive: true }, done)"
+      : "srv.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', done)"
+  }
+}
+`
+
+async function distinctPorts(exclusive: boolean): Promise<number> {
+  const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'srt-cluster-'))
+  const file = join(dir, 'probe.mjs')
+  await writeFile(file, script(exclusive))
+  const { stdout } = await run(process.execPath, [file], { timeout: 30_000 })
+  return Number(stdout.trim())
+}
+
+describe('mux listener under node cluster', () => {
+  test('a plain listen shares one handle across workers', async () => {
+    expect(await distinctPorts(false)).toBe(1)
+  }, 40_000)
+
+  test('an exclusive listen gives every worker its own port', async () => {
+    expect(await distinctPorts(true)).toBe(WORKERS)
+  }, 40_000)
+})
+
+describe('loopbackListenOptions', () => {
+  test('marks the listener exclusive so cluster cannot share it', () => {
+    expect(loopbackListenOptions(60080)).toEqual({
+      port: 60080,
+      host: '127.0.0.1',
+      exclusive: true,
+    })
+  })
+})