diff --git a/mobile/lib/utils/crypto_util.dart b/mobile/lib/utils/crypto_util.dart
index 2005e7882f..52ed85f857 100644
--- a/mobile/lib/utils/crypto_util.dart
+++ b/mobile/lib/utils/crypto_util.dart
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
 import "package:photos/core/errors.dart";
 import 'package:photos/models/derived_key_result.dart';
 import 'package:photos/models/encryption_result.dart';
-import "package:photos/utils/device_info.dart";
 
 const int encryptionChunkSize = 4 * 1024 * 1024;
 final int decryptionChunkSize =
@@ -392,24 +391,27 @@ class CryptoUtil {
     Uint8List salt,
   ) async {
     final logger = Logger("pwhash");
-    int memLimit = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitSensitive;
-    int opsLimit = Sodium.cryptoPwhashOpslimitSensitive;
-    if (await isLowSpecDevice()) {
-      logger.info("low spec device detected");
-      // When sensitive memLimit (1 GB) is used, on low spec device the OS might
-      // kill the app with OOM. To avoid that, start with 256 MB and
-      // corresponding ops limit (16).
-      // This ensures that the product of these two variables
-      // (the area under the graph that determines the amount of work required)
-      // stays the same
-      // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_MEMLIMIT_SENSITIVE: 1073741824
-      // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_MEMLIMIT_MODERATE: 268435456
-      // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_OPSLIMIT_SENSITIVE: 4
-      memLimit = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitModerate;
-      final factor = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitSensitive ~/
-          Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitModerate; // = 4
-      opsLimit = opsLimit * factor; // = 16
+    final int desiredStrength = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitSensitive *
+        Sodium.cryptoPwhashOpslimitSensitive;
+    // When sensitive memLimit (1 GB) is used, on low spec device the OS might
+    // kill the app with OOM. To avoid that, start with 256 MB and
+    // corresponding ops limit (16).
+    // This ensures that the product of these two variables
+    // (the area under the graph that determines the amount of work required)
+    // stays the same
+    // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_MEMLIMIT_SENSITIVE: 1073741824
+    // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_MEMLIMIT_MODERATE: 268435456
+    // SODIUM_CRYPTO_PWHASH_OPSLIMIT_SENSITIVE: 4
+    int memLimit = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitModerate;
+    final factor = Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitSensitive ~/
+        Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitModerate; // = 4
+    int opsLimit = Sodium.cryptoPwhashOpslimitSensitive * factor; // = 16
+    if (memLimit * opsLimit != desiredStrength) {
+      throw UnsupportedError(
+        "unexpcted values for memLimit $memLimit and opsLimit: $opsLimit",
+      );
     }
+
     Uint8List key;
     while (memLimit >= Sodium.cryptoPwhashMemlimitMin &&
         opsLimit <= Sodium.cryptoPwhashOpslimitMax) {
diff --git a/server/ente/user.go b/server/ente/user.go
index 9ab12f31a4..8b207712d9 100644
--- a/server/ente/user.go
+++ b/server/ente/user.go
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ const (
 	ChangeEmailOTTPurpose = "change"
 	SignUpOTTPurpose      = "signup"
 	LoginOTTPurpose       = "login"
+
+	ExpectedKDFStrength = 1073741824 * 4
 )
 
 // User represents a user in the system
@@ -88,6 +90,14 @@ type SetUserAttributesRequest struct {
 	KeyAttributes KeyAttributes `json:"keyAttributes" binding:"required"`
 }
 
+func (sk *SetUserAttributesRequest) Validate() error {
+	strength := sk.KeyAttributes.MemLimit * sk.KeyAttributes.OpsLimit
+	if strength != ExpectedKDFStrength {
+		return NewBadRequestWithMessage("Unexpected KDF strength")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // UpdateEmailMFA ..
 type UpdateEmailMFA struct {
 	IsEnabled *bool `json:"isEnabled" binding:"required"`
@@ -102,6 +112,14 @@ type UpdateKeysRequest struct {
 	OpsLimit           int    `json:"opsLimit" binding:"required"`
 }
 
+func (u *UpdateKeysRequest) Validate() error {
+	strength := u.MemLimit * u.OpsLimit
+	if strength != ExpectedKDFStrength {
+		return NewBadRequestWithMessage("Unexpected KDF strength")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 type SetRecoveryKeyRequest struct {
 	MasterKeyEncryptedWithRecoveryKey string `json:"masterKeyEncryptedWithRecoveryKey"`
 	MasterKeyDecryptionNonce          string `json:"masterKeyDecryptionNonce"`
diff --git a/server/pkg/api/user.go b/server/pkg/api/user.go
index bfdd36ab7b..c62613ccb7 100644
--- a/server/pkg/api/user.go
+++ b/server/pkg/api/user.go
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ func (h *UserHandler) SetAttributes(c *gin.Context) {
 		handler.Error(c, stacktrace.Propagate(err, ""))
 		return
 	}
+	if err := request.Validate(); err != nil {
+		handler.Error(c, stacktrace.Propagate(err, ""))
+		return
+	}
 	err := h.UserController.SetAttributes(userID, request)
 	if err != nil {
 		handler.Error(c, stacktrace.Propagate(err, ""))
diff --git a/server/pkg/repo/srp.go b/server/pkg/repo/srp.go
index 9a8480e6ac..efb7c3bea2 100644
--- a/server/pkg/repo/srp.go
+++ b/server/pkg/repo/srp.go
@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ func (repo *UserAuthRepository) InsertOrUpdateSRPAuthAndKeyAttr(ctx context.Cont
 		return stacktrace.Propagate(err, "")
 	}
 	updateKeyAttr := *req.UpdateAttributes
+	if validErr := updateKeyAttr.Validate(); validErr != nil {
+		return stacktrace.Propagate(validErr, "")
+	}
 	_, err = tx.ExecContext(ctx, `UPDATE key_attributes SET kek_salt = $1, encrypted_key = $2, key_decryption_nonce = $3, mem_limit = $4, ops_limit = $5 WHERE user_id = $6`,
 		updateKeyAttr.KEKSalt, updateKeyAttr.EncryptedKey, updateKeyAttr.KeyDecryptionNonce, updateKeyAttr.MemLimit, updateKeyAttr.OpsLimit, userID)
 	if err != nil {