diff --git a/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/include/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/nebula_hw_interfaces_common/connections/udp.hpp b/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/include/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/nebula_hw_interfaces_common/connections/udp.hpp
index e3d7f3b53..55c2178c8 100644
--- a/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/include/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/nebula_hw_interfaces_common/connections/udp.hpp
+++ b/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/include/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/nebula_hw_interfaces_common/connections/udp.hpp
@@ -185,6 +185,26 @@ class UdpSocket
 
       auto buf_size = static_cast<int>(bytes);
       sock_fd_.setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUF, buf_size).value_or_throw();
+
+      // The kernel silently clamps SO_RCVBUF to net.core.rmem_max (default ~212 KB).
+      // Read back the actual value to detect this.
+      int actual = 0;
+      socklen_t len = sizeof(actual);
+      if (::getsockopt(sock_fd_.get(), SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUF, &actual, &len) == 0) {
+        // The kernel internally doubles SO_RCVBUF, so `actual` is normally ~2x requested.
+        // When the requested value is near INT32_MAX, the doubled value may overflow or
+        // the kernel may round down slightly, so only flag significant differences (>4KB).
+        // The real clamping case (e.g. 5.4MB requested, 212KB rmem_max -> actual=424KB)
+        // has a difference of millions of bytes, well above this threshold.
+        if (actual < buf_size && (buf_size - actual) > 4096) {
+          throw SocketError(
+            "SO_RCVBUF was clamped by the kernel: requested " + std::to_string(buf_size) +
+            " bytes, got " + std::to_string(actual) +
+            " bytes. Increase net.core.rmem_max: sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=" +
+            std::to_string(buf_size));
+        }
+      }
+
       return std::move(*this);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/test/common/test_udp.cpp b/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/test/common/test_udp.cpp
index c8ffc0fec..02af34519 100644
--- a/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/test/common/test_udp.cpp
+++ b/src/nebula_core/nebula_core_hw_interfaces/test/common/test_udp.cpp
@@ -97,6 +97,33 @@ TEST(TestUdp, TestBufferResize)
     UsageError);
 }
 
+TEST(TestUdp, TestBufferClampingDetected)
+{
+  auto rmem_max_maybe = read_sys_param("net.core.rmem_max");
+  if (!rmem_max_maybe.has_value()) GTEST_SKIP() << rmem_max_maybe.error();
+  size_t rmem_max = rmem_max_maybe.value();
+
+  // Nebula's configured buffer size for Pandar128E4X
+  constexpr size_t nebula_buf_size = 5400000;
+
+  if (rmem_max >= nebula_buf_size) {
+    // On a properly configured system, requesting 5.4 MB should succeed because
+    // the kernel doubles SO_RCVBUF internally, so actual (10.8 MB) >= requested (5.4 MB).
+    ASSERT_NO_THROW(
+      UdpSocket::Builder(g_localhost_ip, g_host_port)
+        .set_socket_buffer_size(nebula_buf_size)
+        .bind());
+  } else {
+    // On a system with default rmem_max (~212 KB), requesting 5.4 MB should throw
+    // SocketError because getsockopt will return ~2*rmem_max < 5.4 MB.
+    ASSERT_THROW(
+      UdpSocket::Builder(g_localhost_ip, g_host_port)
+        .set_socket_buffer_size(nebula_buf_size)
+        .bind(),
+      SocketError);
+  }
+}
+
 TEST(TestUdp, TestCorrectUsageIsEnforced)
 {
   // The following functions can be called in any order, any number of times