diff --git a/internal/profiles/resolver.go b/internal/profiles/resolver.go
index ca69a59..3f16767 100644
--- a/internal/profiles/resolver.go
+++ b/internal/profiles/resolver.go
@@ -317,6 +317,11 @@ var judgePathPlaceholderPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\{\{\s*(prompt|output_sche
 var scannerIDPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]*$`)
 var scannerTargetPlaceholderPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\{\{\s*target\s*\}\}`)
 
+// envVarNamePattern matches a bare environment variable name. Declared scanner
+// env entries must be names only; an inline value (API_TOKEN=secret) would leak
+// into requirement diagnostics, the artifact env map, and the Docker sandbox.
+var envVarNamePattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$`)
+
 // maxScannerIDLength bounds user-defined scanner IDs so <id>.json evidence file
 // names stay within filesystem limits.
 const maxScannerIDLength = 64
@@ -953,6 +958,31 @@ func resolveJudgePaths(command string, configDir string) string {
 	})
 }
 
+// invalidDeclaredEnvName returns the sanitized name of the first declared env
+// entry that is not a bare, valid variable name, or "" if all entries are
+// valid. It returns only the portion before any "=", never the value, so an
+// inline secret (API_TOKEN=sk-live) is not echoed into diagnostics.
+func invalidDeclaredEnvName(env []string) string {
+	for _, entry := range env {
+		if envVarNamePattern.MatchString(entry) {
+			continue
+		}
+		name := entry
+		if i := strings.IndexByte(entry, '='); i >= 0 {
+			name = entry[:i]
+		}
+		name = strings.TrimSpace(name)
+		if i := strings.IndexByte(name, ' '); i >= 0 {
+			name = name[:i]
+		}
+		if name == "" {
+			return "(empty)"
+		}
+		return name
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func validateProfile(name string, profile Profile) error {
 	seen := map[string]bool{}
 	for _, scanner := range profile.Scanners {
@@ -968,6 +998,11 @@ func validateProfile(name string, profile Profile) error {
 		if scanner.custom && strings.TrimSpace(scanner.Command) == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("User-defined scanner %s in profile %s must include a non-empty command", scanner.ID, name)
 		}
+		if scanner.custom {
+			if bad := invalidDeclaredEnvName(scanner.Env); bad != "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("User-defined scanner %s in profile %s has an invalid env entry %q; declare bare variable names and set values in the environment, not inline", scanner.ID, name, bad)
+			}
+		}
 		if scanner.custom && !scannerTargetPlaceholdersAreUnquoted(scanner.Command) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("User-defined scanner %s in profile %s must use {{target}} outside shell quotes", scanner.ID, name)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/profiles/resolver_test.go b/internal/profiles/resolver_test.go
index 4c8ca2d..c36f989 100644
--- a/internal/profiles/resolver_test.go
+++ b/internal/profiles/resolver_test.go
@@ -1118,6 +1118,71 @@ profiles:
 	}
 }
 
+func TestResolveArgsRejectsInlineUserDefinedScannerEnvValue(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	config := filepath.Join(dir, ".clawscan.yml")
+	writeFile(t, config, `version: 1
+profiles:
+  review:
+    scanners:
+      - id: my-scanner
+        command: my-scanner {{target}}
+        env:
+          - API_TOKEN=sk-live-secret
+`)
+
+	_, err := ResolveArgs([]string{"./skill", "--config", config, "--profile", "review"}, dir)
+	want := `User-defined scanner my-scanner in profile review has an invalid env entry "API_TOKEN"; declare bare variable names and set values in the environment, not inline`
+	if err == nil || err.Error() != want {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want %q", err, want)
+	}
+	if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "sk-live-secret") {
+		t.Fatalf("error leaked the inline env value: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResolveArgsAllowsBareUserDefinedScannerEnvName(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	config := filepath.Join(dir, ".clawscan.yml")
+	writeFile(t, config, `version: 1
+profiles:
+  review:
+    scanners:
+      - id: my-scanner
+        command: my-scanner {{target}}
+        env:
+          - API_TOKEN
+`)
+
+	if _, err := ResolveArgs([]string{"./skill", "--config", config, "--profile", "review"}, dir); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("bare env name rejected: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInvalidDeclaredEnvNameUsesPortableShellIdentifiers(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, entry := range []string{"API_TOKEN", "_PRIVATE", "token2", "a", "_"} {
+		if bad := invalidDeclaredEnvName([]string{entry}); bad != "" {
+			t.Errorf("valid shell variable name %q rejected as %q", entry, bad)
+		}
+	}
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		entry string
+		want  string
+	}{
+		{entry: "2TOKEN", want: "2TOKEN"},
+		{entry: "API-TOKEN", want: "API-TOKEN"},
+		{entry: "API TOKEN", want: "API"},
+		{entry: "API_TOKEN=value", want: "API_TOKEN"},
+		{entry: "", want: "(empty)"},
+	}
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		if bad := invalidDeclaredEnvName([]string{test.entry}); bad != test.want {
+			t.Errorf("invalid shell variable name %q reported as %q, want %q", test.entry, bad, test.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestResolveArgsRejectsQuotedUserDefinedScannerTargetPlaceholder(t *testing.T) {
 	dir := t.TempDir()
 	config := filepath.Join(dir, ".clawscan.yml")