diff --git a/s3api/middlewares/authentication.go b/s3api/middlewares/authentication.go
index b9afa33f..007a30a6 100644
--- a/s3api/middlewares/authentication.go
+++ b/s3api/middlewares/authentication.go
@@ -115,6 +115,9 @@ func VerifyV4Signature(root RootUserConfig, iam auth.IAMService, region string,
 		}
 
 		hashPayload := ctx.Get("X-Amz-Content-Sha256")
+		if !utils.IsValidSh256PayloadHeader(hashPayload) {
+			return s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidSHA256Paylod)
+		}
 		if utils.IsBigDataAction(ctx) {
 			// for streaming PUT actions, authorization is deferred
 			// until end of stream due to need to get length and
diff --git a/s3api/utils/chunk-reader.go b/s3api/utils/chunk-reader.go
index bba83fdb..7af15f78 100644
--- a/s3api/utils/chunk-reader.go
+++ b/s3api/utils/chunk-reader.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package utils
 
 import (
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
@@ -105,6 +106,28 @@ func IsSpecialPayload(str string) bool {
 	return specialValues[payloadType(str)]
 }
 
+// IsValidSh256PayloadHeader checks if the provided x-amz-content-sha256
+// paylod header is valid special paylod type or a valid sh256 hash
+func IsValidSh256PayloadHeader(value string) bool {
+	// empty header is valid
+	if value == "" {
+		return true
+	}
+	// special values are valid
+	if specialValues[payloadType(value)] {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// check to be a valid sha256
+	if len(value) != 64 {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// decode the string as hex
+	_, err := hex.DecodeString(value)
+	return err == nil
+}
+
 // Checks if the provided string is unsigned payload trailer type
 func IsUnsignedStreamingPayload(str string) bool {
 	return payloadType(str) == payloadTypeStreamingUnsignedTrailer
diff --git a/s3api/utils/chunk-reader_test.go b/s3api/utils/chunk-reader_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0f8d26f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/s3api/utils/chunk-reader_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Versity Software
+// This file is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+// (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+package utils
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestIsValidSh256PayloadHeader(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		hash string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"empty header", "", true},
+		{"special payload type 1", "UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD", true},
+		{"special payload type 2", "STREAMING-UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD-TRAILER", true},
+		{"special payload type 3", "STREAMING-AWS4-HMAC-SHA256-PAYLOAD", true},
+		{"special payload type 4", "STREAMING-AWS4-HMAC-SHA256-PAYLOAD-TRAILER", true},
+		{"special payload type 5", "STREAMING-AWS4-ECDSA-P256-SHA256-PAYLOAD", true},
+		{"special payload type 6", "STREAMING-AWS4-ECDSA-P256-SHA256-PAYLOAD-TRAILER", true},
+		{"invalid hext", "invalid_hex", false},
+		{"valid hex, but not sha256", "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e", false},
+		{"valid sh256", "9c56cc51b374bb0f2f8d55af2b34d2a6f8f7f42dd4bbcccbbf8e3279b6e1e6d4", true},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := IsValidSh256PayloadHeader(tt.hash); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("IsValidSh256PayloadHeader() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/s3err/s3err.go b/s3err/s3err.go
index 71d3f220..8c7463af 100644
--- a/s3err/s3err.go
+++ b/s3err/s3err.go
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ const (
 	ErrSignatureTerminationStr
 	ErrSignatureIncorrService
 	ErrContentSHA256Mismatch
+	ErrInvalidSHA256Paylod
 	ErrMissingContentLength
 	ErrInvalidAccessKeyID
 	ErrRequestNotReadyYet
@@ -530,6 +531,11 @@ var errorCodeResponse = map[ErrorCode]APIError{
 		Description:    "The provided 'x-amz-content-sha256' header does not match what was computed.",
 		HTTPStatusCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 	},
+	ErrInvalidSHA256Paylod: {
+		Code:           "InvalidArgument",
+		Description:    "x-amz-content-sha256 must be UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD, STREAMING-UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD-TRAILER, STREAMING-AWS4-HMAC-SHA256-PAYLOAD, STREAMING-AWS4-HMAC-SHA256-PAYLOAD-TRAILER, STREAMING-AWS4-ECDSA-P256-SHA256-PAYLOAD, STREAMING-AWS4-ECDSA-P256-SHA256-PAYLOAD-TRAILER or a valid sha256 value.",
+		HTTPStatusCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
+	},
 	ErrMissingContentLength: {
 		Code:           "MissingContentLength",
 		Description:    "You must provide the Content-Length HTTP header.",
diff --git a/tests/integration/group-tests.go b/tests/integration/group-tests.go
index 458f5d34..c3e281cd 100644
--- a/tests/integration/group-tests.go
+++ b/tests/integration/group-tests.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ func TestAuthentication(s *S3Conf) {
 	Authentication_invalid_date_header(s)
 	Authentication_date_mismatch(s)
 	Authentication_incorrect_payload_hash(s)
+	Authentication_invalid_sha256_payload_hash(s)
 	Authentication_incorrect_md5(s)
 	Authentication_signature_error_incorrect_secret_key(s)
 }
@@ -904,6 +905,7 @@ func GetIntTests() IntTests {
 		"Authentication_invalid_date_header":                                      Authentication_invalid_date_header,
 		"Authentication_date_mismatch":                                            Authentication_date_mismatch,
 		"Authentication_incorrect_payload_hash":                                   Authentication_incorrect_payload_hash,
+		"Authentication_invalid_sha256_payload_hash":                              Authentication_invalid_sha256_payload_hash,
 		"Authentication_incorrect_md5":                                            Authentication_incorrect_md5,
 		"Authentication_signature_error_incorrect_secret_key":                     Authentication_signature_error_incorrect_secret_key,
 		"PresignedAuth_unsupported_algorithm":                                     PresignedAuth_unsupported_algorithm,
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests.go b/tests/integration/tests.go
index 1380bbb5..d52beb25 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests.go
+++ b/tests/integration/tests.go
@@ -462,16 +462,41 @@ func Authentication_date_mismatch(s *S3Conf) error {
 	})
 }
 
+func Authentication_invalid_sha256_payload_hash(s *S3Conf) error {
+	testName := "Authentication_invalid_sha256_payload_hash"
+	return authHandler(s, &authConfig{
+		testName: testName,
+		method:   http.MethodPut,
+		body:     nil,
+		service:  "s3",
+		date:     time.Now(),
+		path:     "bucket/object",
+	}, func(req *http.Request) error {
+		req.Header.Set("X-Amz-Content-Sha256", "invalid_sha256")
+		resp, err := s.httpClient.Do(req)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		if err := checkHTTPResponseApiErr(resp, s3err.GetAPIError(s3err.ErrInvalidSHA256Paylod)); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	})
+}
+
 func Authentication_incorrect_payload_hash(s *S3Conf) error {
 	testName := "Authentication_incorrect_payload_hash"
 	return authHandler(s, &authConfig{
 		testName: testName,
-		method:   http.MethodGet,
+		method:   http.MethodPut,
 		body:     nil,
 		service:  "s3",
 		date:     time.Now(),
+		path:     "bucket/object?tagging",
 	}, func(req *http.Request) error {
-		req.Header.Set("X-Amz-Content-Sha256", "7sa6df576dsa5f675sad67f")
+		req.Header.Set("X-Amz-Content-Sha256", "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b854")
 
 		resp, err := s.httpClient.Do(req)
 		if err != nil {