diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index d1a87be76..1b6770a73 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ Security
 Features
    * Add function pk_check_pair() to test if public and private keys match.
    * Add x509_crl_parse_der().
+   * Add compile-time option POLARSSL_X509_MAX_INTERMEDIATE_CA to limit the
+     length of an X.509 verification chain.
 
 Bugfix
    * User set CFLAGS were ignore by Cmake with gcc (introduced in 1.3.9, found
diff --git a/include/polarssl/config.h b/include/polarssl/config.h
index fa15b37c3..a0ec2f3cc 100644
--- a/include/polarssl/config.h
+++ b/include/polarssl/config.h
@@ -2185,6 +2185,9 @@
 /* Debug options */
 //#define POLARSSL_DEBUG_DFL_MODE POLARSSL_DEBUG_LOG_FULL /**< Default log: Full or Raw */
 
+/* X509 options */
+//#define POLARSSL_X509_MAX_INTERMEDIATE_CA   8   /**< Maximum number of intermediate CAs in a verification chain. */
+
 /* \} name SECTION: Module configuration options */
 
 #include "check_config.h"
diff --git a/include/polarssl/x509.h b/include/polarssl/x509.h
index 9b0bcb78a..3fe682039 100644
--- a/include/polarssl/x509.h
+++ b/include/polarssl/x509.h
@@ -45,6 +45,18 @@
  * \{
  */
 
+#if !defined(POLARSSL_X509_MAX_INTERMEDIATE_CA)
+/**
+ * Maximum number of intermediate CAs in a verification chain.
+ * That is, maximum length of the chain, excluding the end-entity certificate
+ * and the trusted root certificate.
+ *
+ * Set this to a low value to prevent an adversary from making you waste
+ * resources verifying an overlong certificate chain.
+ */
+#define POLARSSL_X509_MAX_INTERMEDIATE_CA   8
+#endif
+
 /**
  * \name X509 Error codes
  * \{
diff --git a/library/x509_crt.c b/library/x509_crt.c
index 2d72f6acd..4d20889b8 100644
--- a/library/x509_crt.c
+++ b/library/x509_crt.c
@@ -1834,6 +1834,13 @@ static int x509_crt_verify_child(
     x509_crt *grandparent;
     const md_info_t *md_info;
 
+    /* path_cnt is 0 for the first intermediate CA */
+    if( 1 + path_cnt > POLARSSL_X509_MAX_INTERMEDIATE_CA )
+    {
+        *flags |= BADCERT_NOT_TRUSTED;
+        return( POLARSSL_ERR_X509_CERT_VERIFY_FAILED );
+    }
+
     if( x509_time_expired( &child->valid_to ) )
         *flags |= BADCERT_EXPIRED;