diff --git a/src/torcontrol.cpp b/src/torcontrol.cpp
index 17b37f6fdd4..0893596d37d 100644
--- a/src/torcontrol.cpp
+++ b/src/torcontrol.cpp
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ constexpr std::chrono::duration<double> RECONNECT_TIMEOUT_MAX{600.0};
  * this is belt-and-suspenders sanity limit to prevent memory exhaustion.
  */
 constexpr int MAX_LINE_LENGTH = 100000;
+/** Maximum number of lines received on TorControlConnection per reply to avoid
+ * memory exhaustion. The largest expected now is 5 (PROTOCOLINFO), but future
+ * changes to this file might need to re-evaluate MAX_LINE_COUNT.
+ */
+constexpr int MAX_LINE_COUNT = 1000;
 /** Timeout for socket operations */
 constexpr auto SOCKET_SEND_TIMEOUT = 10s;
 
@@ -177,6 +182,9 @@ bool TorControlConnection::ProcessBuffer()
     auto start = reader.it;
 
     while (auto line = reader.ReadLine()) {
+        if (m_message.lines.size() == MAX_LINE_COUNT) {
+            throw std::runtime_error(strprintf("Control port reply exceeded %d lines, disconnecting", MAX_LINE_COUNT));
+        }
         // Skip short lines
         if (line->size() < 4) continue;
 
diff --git a/test/functional/feature_torcontrol.py b/test/functional/feature_torcontrol.py
index 9693030b8ac..485ffc44559 100755
--- a/test/functional/feature_torcontrol.py
+++ b/test/functional/feature_torcontrol.py
@@ -237,11 +237,32 @@ class TorControlTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
         mock_tor.stop()
 
+    def test_overmany_lines(self):
+        mock_tor = MockTorControlServer(self.next_port(), manual_mode=True)
+        self.restart_with_mock(mock_tor)
+
+        MAX_LINE_COUNT = 1000
+
+        self.log.info("Test that Tor control does not disconnect on receiving MAX_LINE_COUNT lines.")
+        with self.expect_disconnect(False, mock_tor):
+            for _ in range(MAX_LINE_COUNT - 1):
+                mock_tor.send_raw("250-Continuing\r\n")
+            mock_tor.send_raw("250 OK\r\n")
+
+        self.log.info("Test that Tor control disconnects on receiving MAX_LINE_COUNT + 1 lines.")
+        with self.expect_disconnect(True, mock_tor):
+            for _ in range(MAX_LINE_COUNT + 1):
+                mock_tor.send_raw("250-Continuing\r\n")
+
+        mock_tor.stop()
+
     def run_test(self):
         self.test_basic()
         self.test_partial_data()
         self.test_pow_fallback()
         self.test_oversized_line()
+        self.test_overmany_lines()
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     TorControlTest(__file__).main()