diff --git a/libavformat/whip.c b/libavformat/whip.c
index 47b80e9960ba0..edd9136d3ee6c 100644
--- a/libavformat/whip.c
+++ b/libavformat/whip.c
@@ -290,6 +290,8 @@ typedef struct WHIPContext {
     char key_buf[MAX_CERTIFICATE_SIZE];
     /* The fingerprint of certificate, used in SDP offer. */
     char *dtls_fingerprint;
+    /* remote DTLS cert fingerprint from SDP answer (sha-256). */
+    char *remote_fingerprint;
     /**
      * This represents the material used to build the SRTP master key. It is
      * generated by DTLS and has the following layout:
@@ -921,6 +923,17 @@ static int parse_answer(AVFormatContext *s)
                 ret = AVERROR(ENOMEM);
                 goto end;
             }
+        } else if (av_strstart(line, "a=fingerprint:", &ptr) && !whip->remote_fingerprint) {
+            /* SDP a=fingerprint format is "<algo> <hex:hex:...>". Skip
+             * the algo token, store the hex string for post-handshake compare. */
+            const char *space = strchr(ptr, ' ');
+            if (space) {
+                whip->remote_fingerprint = av_strdup(space + 1);
+                if (!whip->remote_fingerprint) {
+                    ret = AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+                    goto end;
+                }
+            }
         } else if (av_strstart(line, "a=candidate:", &ptr) && !whip->ice_protocol) {
             if (ptr && av_stristr(ptr, "host")) {
                 /* Refer to RFC 5245 15.1 */
@@ -970,6 +983,17 @@ static int parse_answer(AVFormatContext *s)
         goto end;
     }
 
+    /* per RFC 8829/8842, SDP answer MUST carry a=fingerprint and that
+     * fingerprint MUST match the DTLS peer certificate. Without it, an
+     * on-path attacker can complete DTLS with an arbitrary self-signed
+     * certificate and the resulting SRTP session is unauthenticated. */
+    if (!whip->remote_fingerprint || !strlen(whip->remote_fingerprint)) {
+        av_log(whip, AV_LOG_ERROR,
+               "No remote DTLS fingerprint in SDP answer; refusing unauthenticated session\n");
+        ret = AVERROR(EINVAL);
+        goto end;
+    }
+
     if (whip->state < WHIP_STATE_NEGOTIATED)
         whip->state = WHIP_STATE_NEGOTIATED;
     whip->whip_answer_time = av_gettime_relative();
@@ -2130,6 +2154,7 @@ static av_cold void whip_deinit(AVFormatContext *s)
     ffurl_closep(&whip->dtls_uc);
     ffurl_closep(&whip->udp);
     av_freep(&whip->dtls_fingerprint);
+    av_freep(&whip->remote_fingerprint);
 }
 
 static int whip_check_bitstream(AVFormatContext *s, AVStream *st, const AVPacket *pkt)