diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c70ade9..f86063a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,7 +5,31 @@ Format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/); version
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-Migration `0010` (indexes only).
+## [2.5.3] - 2026-10-15
+
+Stage 3 of the 2026-10-12 audit: persistence and restore. A restore is
+ended by its Resync and refuses an archive unpacked in part; the send log
+answers its frequent questions from indexes; the backup CLI refuses a
+missing database and a short password and writes its file whole; an
+encrypted file is bounded in what it may ask before its password is
+checked. Migration `0010` (indexes only).
+
+### Security
+
+- **An encrypted file could make the panel allocate 4 GiB before its
+  password was checked.** The key-derivation parameters an encrypted backup
+  or export carries were capped so loosely that a crafted header, uploaded
+  to *Import a domain*, asked scrypt for 4 GiB and sixteen times the work.
+  A header may now ask for 128 MiB at most - four times what SelfPost
+  writes, with the rest of scrypt's memory under 32 KiB - and is refused as
+  damaged otherwise. Bytes after an envelope's
+  last block, such as a second file appended to it, are refused too (audit
+  2026-10-12, M4, L3).
+- **`TRUSTED_PROXY_CIDR=::ffff:10.0.0.1` trusted the wrong addresses.** A
+  bare IPv4-mapped address written as IPv6 was given "/32", which made it
+  `::/32`: every address beginning with 32 zero bits, `::1` among them, and
+  not the proxy meant. A bare address is now one host however it is written
+  (audit 2026-10-12, L4).
 
 ### Fixed
 
@@ -38,20 +62,6 @@ Migration `0010` (indexes only).
   error, the panel's log), and a `certs/` with no file in it is refused: the
   archive would restore a server without its certificate (audit
   2026-10-12, L2).
-- **`TRUSTED_PROXY_CIDR=::ffff:10.0.0.1` trusted the wrong addresses.** A
-  bare IPv4-mapped address written as IPv6 was given "/32", which made it
-  `::/32`: every address beginning with 32 zero bits, `::1` among them, and
-  not the proxy meant. A bare address is now one host however it is written
-  (audit 2026-10-12, L4).
-- **An encrypted file could make the panel allocate 4 GiB before its
-  password was checked.** The key-derivation parameters an encrypted backup
-  or export carries were capped so loosely that a crafted header, uploaded
-  to *Import a domain*, asked scrypt for 4 GiB and sixteen times the work.
-  A header may now ask for 128 MiB at most - four times what SelfPost
-  writes, with the rest of scrypt's memory under 32 KiB - and is refused as
-  damaged otherwise. Bytes after an envelope's
-  last block, such as a second file appended to it, are refused too (audit
-  2026-10-12, M4, L3).
 - **A power loss could bring back a map the panel had just replaced.** The
   files the panel writes for Postfix and OpenDKIM were synced, but not the
   directory their rename changed, so the old file could return while the
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 92fdfb1..ff56243 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ outbound mail will not reach the real internet without DNS, PTR, and port 25.
 > local image and pulls nothing:
 >
 > ```sh
-> docker build -f build/Dockerfile --build-arg VERSION=2.5.2 \
->   -t ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.2 .
+> docker build -f build/Dockerfile --build-arg VERSION=2.5.3 \
+>   -t ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.3 .
 > ```
 
 ```sh
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ docker run --rm -d --name selfpost-try \
   -e SELFPOST_HOSTNAME=mail.local.test \
   -e PANEL_COOKIE_SECURE=false \
   -v selfpost-try-data:/data \
-  ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.2
+  ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.3
 ```
 
 **Get the setup URL** (pick one):
diff --git a/deploy/docker-compose.yml b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
index e381896..56092cb 100644
--- a/deploy/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/deploy/docker-compose.yml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
 services:
   selfpost:
-    image: ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.2
+    image: ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.3
     restart: unless-stopped
     environment:
       SELFPOST_HOSTNAME: "${SELFPOST_HOSTNAME:?set the mail/panel hostname, e.g. mail.example.com}"
diff --git a/docs/audit-2026-10-12.md b/docs/audit-2026-10-12.md
index 438f5b6..f1afcc4 100644
--- a/docs/audit-2026-10-12.md
+++ b/docs/audit-2026-10-12.md
@@ -1072,7 +1072,7 @@ those after it move up one patch number each.
    CHANGELOG. - **Sonnet**
    *Done 2026-10-15* with the port (`2cf118c` the help mockup, `3584adc`).
 
-### Stage 3 — persistence and restore (M1–M5, L1–L4, L7) → `2.5.3`
+### Stage 3 — persistence and restore (M1–M5, L1–L4, L7) → `2.5.3` (shipped 2026-10-15)
 
 - [x] **Consume the manifest after the resync succeeds** (`CheckRestore` reports;
    `run` deletes after `resyncAfterRestore` returns nil). Test: Resync fails →
diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
index cbe3748..4506958 100644
--- a/docs/development.md
+++ b/docs/development.md
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ than the default «meaningful step» rule in [§ Commits and release build](#com
 2. Git tag `vX.Y.Z` and publish the GitHub Release only on explicit request (see
    [§ Release image](#release-image)).
 
-**Planned version cuts** (from pin `2.5.2`; adjust if semver changes mid-track):
+**Planned version cuts** (from pin `2.5.3`; adjust if semver changes mid-track):
 
 | Stage | ID | Cut |
 |---|---|---|
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ than the default «meaningful step» rule in [§ Commits and release build](#com
 | 21 | audit-2026-10-12 stages 1 and 2 | `2.5.0` |
 | 22 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 2b: the log tailer | `2.5.1` |
 | 23 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 2c: the sender check reads From: as OpenDKIM does | `2.5.2` |
-| 24 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 3 | `2.5.3` |
+| 24 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 3: persistence and restore | `2.5.3` |
 | 25 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 4 | `2.5.4` |
 | 26 | audit-2026-10-12 stage 5 | `2.6.0` |
 
diff --git a/docs/guide.md b/docs/guide.md
index cf958ea..9430edb 100644
--- a/docs/guide.md
+++ b/docs/guide.md
@@ -190,14 +190,14 @@ cat ./data/setup-token
 #### Fixed image tag
 
 `deploy/docker-compose.yml` pins an explicit version (`ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:X.Y.Z`),
-deliberately never `:latest`. The current pin is `2.5.2`. **No 2.x image is
+deliberately never `:latest`. The current pin is `2.5.3`. **No 2.x image is
 published on ghcr.io yet** (the newest there is `1.3.0`); until one is, build
 it from the checkout under the pinned name, and Compose uses the local image
 instead of pulling:
 
 ```sh
-docker build -f build/Dockerfile --build-arg VERSION=2.5.2 \
-  -t ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.2 .
+docker build -f build/Dockerfile --build-arg VERSION=2.5.3 \
+  -t ghcr.io/mixeme/selfpost:2.5.3 .
 ```
 
 `VERSION` must equal the tag: it is the version the backup check compares
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ A version mismatch at step 5 refuses to start and leaves `/data` untouched —
 the panel exits with a message naming the tag to use, e.g.:
 
 ```
-backup: this backup was created by SelfPost 2.5.1 but this image is 2.5.2 — restore into the matching image (selfpost:2.5.1)
+backup: this backup was created by SelfPost 2.5.2 but this image is 2.5.3 — restore into the matching image (selfpost:2.5.2)
 ```
 
 Fix the tag in `docker-compose.yml` (build that tag as under [Fixed image
diff --git a/docs/roadmap.md b/docs/roadmap.md
index 49f2b51..93a57e7 100644
--- a/docs/roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/roadmap.md
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ in `git log` and [CHANGELOG.md](../CHANGELOG.md).
 | from-header-binding | Hold a message's `From:` header against the application that sends it | shipped `2.4.0` | 9/9 | [plans/from-header-binding.md](plans/from-header-binding.md) |
 | panel-redesign | Panel redesign (accepted mockups, design contract) | shipped `2.0.0` | 27/27 | [plans/panel-redesign.md](plans/panel-redesign.md) |
 | schema-squash | Squash SQLite migrations into a 2.x baseline | built in panel-redesign (stage 1) | — | [plans/panel-redesign.md](plans/panel-redesign.md) |
-| audit-2026-10-12 | Follow-ups of the 2026-10-12 full-tree code audit, seven stages | in progress (stage 0 shipped `2.4.2`, stages 1+2 `2.5.0`, 2b `2.5.1`, 2c `2.5.2`; next stage 3 → `2.5.3`) | 55/81 | [audit-2026-10-12.md](audit-2026-10-12.md) |
+| audit-2026-10-12 | Follow-ups of the 2026-10-12 full-tree code audit, seven stages | in progress (stage 0 shipped `2.4.2`, stages 1+2 `2.5.0`, 2b `2.5.1`, 2c `2.5.2`, 3 `2.5.3`; next stage 4 → `2.5.4`) | 55/81 | [audit-2026-10-12.md](audit-2026-10-12.md) |
 
 **Recommended order** (not binding; owner, 2026-10-09: feature order follows
 development convenience): **panel-redesign** shipped as `2.0.0` (2026-10-11) and
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ kit — styling its two screens once instead of twice. **delivery-log-storage**
 shipped as `2.2.0` the same day, **panel-notifications** as `2.3.0` and
 **from-header-binding** as `2.4.0`. Stage 0 of
 [audit-2026-10-12](audit-2026-10-12.md) shipped as `2.4.2` (2026-10-14), its
-stages 1 and 2 as `2.5.0` the same day, stage 2b as `2.5.1`, and stage 2c as
-`2.5.2` (2026-10-15).
+stages 1 and 2 as `2.5.0` the same day, stage 2b as `2.5.1`, stage 2c as
+`2.5.2` (2026-10-15), and stage 3 as `2.5.3` the same day.
 Nothing is agreed after it: every remaining
 item is a candidate. panel-docs shipped in
 [CHANGELOG.md](../CHANGELOG.md) `[1.8.0]`; dmarc-reports in `[1.7.0]`