diff --git a/actions/check-release-authorization/action.yml b/actions/check-release-authorization/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cbeaa72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/check-release-authorization/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 LibreCode coop and contributors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+name: Check release authorization
+description: Verify that an actor has the consumer-required repository permission before a privileged release stage.
+
+inputs:
+  repository:
+    description: Repository in owner/name form.
+    required: true
+  actor:
+    description: GitHub login whose effective repository permission is checked.
+    required: true
+  minimum-permission:
+    description: Minimum required permission (read, triage, write, maintain or admin).
+    required: true
+  github-token:
+    description: Token used only for the repository permission lookup.
+    required: true
+
+outputs:
+  actual-permission:
+    description: Effective GitHub repository permission for the actor.
+    value: ${{ steps.check.outputs.actual-permission }}
+  authorized:
+    description: Whether the actor meets the configured minimum.
+    value: ${{ steps.check.outputs.authorized }}
+
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - id: check
+      name: Check repository permission
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github-token }}
+        RELEASE_REPOSITORY: ${{ inputs.repository }}
+        RELEASE_ACTOR: ${{ inputs.actor }}
+        RELEASE_MINIMUM_PERMISSION: ${{ inputs.minimum-permission }}
+      run: |
+        set -euo pipefail
+
+        result_file="${RUNNER_TEMP}/release-authorization.json"
+        set +e
+        python3 "${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/../../scripts/check_release_authorization.py" \
+          --repository "${RELEASE_REPOSITORY}" \
+          --actor "${RELEASE_ACTOR}" \
+          --minimum "${RELEASE_MINIMUM_PERMISSION}" \
+          > "${result_file}"
+        exit_code=$?
+        set -e
+
+        if [[ "${exit_code}" -ne 0 && "${exit_code}" -ne 3 ]]; then
+          cat "${result_file}" || true
+          exit "${exit_code}"
+        fi
+
+        actual_permission="$(python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))["actual_permission"])' "${result_file}")"
+        authorized="$(python3 -c 'import json,sys; print("true" if json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))["authorized"] else "false")' "${result_file}")"
+
+        echo "actual-permission=${actual_permission}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+        echo "authorized=${authorized}" >> "${GITHUB_OUTPUT}"
+
+        {
+          echo "## Release authorization"
+          echo
+          echo "- Actor: `${RELEASE_ACTOR}`"
+          echo "- Required: `${RELEASE_MINIMUM_PERMISSION}`"
+          echo "- Actual: `${actual_permission}`"
+          echo "- Authorized: **${authorized}**"
+        } >> "${GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY}"
+
+        if [[ "${authorized}" != "true" ]]; then
+          echo "::error::${RELEASE_ACTOR} has ${actual_permission} permission; ${RELEASE_MINIMUM_PERMISSION} is required."
+          exit 1
+        fi
diff --git a/scripts/check_release_authorization.py b/scripts/check_release_authorization.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..41d99cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/check_release_authorization.py
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 LibreCode coop and contributors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import os
+from urllib.error import HTTPError
+from urllib.parse import quote
+from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
+
+PERMISSION_RANK = {
+    "none": 0,
+    "read": 1,
+    "triage": 2,
+    "write": 3,
+    "maintain": 4,
+    "admin": 5,
+}
+
+
+def is_authorized(actual: str, minimum: str) -> bool:
+    if minimum not in PERMISSION_RANK:
+        raise ValueError(f"unsupported minimum permission: {minimum}")
+    if actual not in PERMISSION_RANK:
+        raise ValueError(f"unsupported repository permission: {actual}")
+    return PERMISSION_RANK[actual] >= PERMISSION_RANK[minimum]
+
+
+def fetch_permission(repository: str, actor: str, token: str, api_url: str = "https://api.github.com") -> str:
+    if "/" not in repository:
+        raise ValueError("repository must use owner/name form")
+    if actor.strip() == "":
+        raise ValueError("actor must not be empty")
+    if token.strip() == "":
+        raise ValueError("GitHub token must not be empty")
+
+    url = f"{api_url.rstrip('/')}/repos/{repository}/collaborators/{quote(actor, safe='')}/permission"
+    request = Request(
+        url,
+        headers={
+            "Accept": "application/vnd.github+json",
+            "Authorization": f"Bearer {token}",
+            "X-GitHub-Api-Version": "2022-11-28",
+            "User-Agent": "LibreCodeCoop/github-workflows",
+        },
+    )
+
+    try:
+        with urlopen(request, timeout=30) as response:
+            payload = json.load(response)
+    except HTTPError as error:
+        if error.code == 404:
+            return "none"
+        raise RuntimeError(f"GitHub permission lookup failed with HTTP {error.code}") from error
+
+    permission = payload.get("permission") if isinstance(payload, dict) else None
+    if not isinstance(permission, str) or permission not in PERMISSION_RANK:
+        raise RuntimeError("GitHub returned an invalid repository permission")
+    return permission
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--repository", required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--actor", required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--minimum", required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--api-url", default=os.environ.get("GITHUB_API_URL", "https://api.github.com"))
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    try:
+        actual = fetch_permission(
+            args.repository,
+            args.actor,
+            os.environ.get("GITHUB_TOKEN", ""),
+            args.api_url,
+        )
+        authorized = is_authorized(actual, args.minimum)
+    except (RuntimeError, ValueError) as error:
+        parser.error(str(error))
+
+    print(json.dumps({
+        "actor": args.actor,
+        "repository": args.repository,
+        "minimum_permission": args.minimum,
+        "actual_permission": actual,
+        "authorized": authorized,
+    }, separators=(",", ":")))
+
+    return 0 if authorized else 3
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
diff --git a/tests/test_release_authorization.py b/tests/test_release_authorization.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a2868d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_release_authorization.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 LibreCode coop and contributors
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import importlib.util
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+SCRIPT = ROOT / "scripts" / "check_release_authorization.py"
+
+spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location("check_release_authorization", SCRIPT)
+assert spec is not None and spec.loader is not None
+module = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
+spec.loader.exec_module(module)
+
+
+class ReleaseAuthorizationTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_permission_order_matches_github_levels(self) -> None:
+        self.assertTrue(module.is_authorized("admin", "maintain"))
+        self.assertTrue(module.is_authorized("maintain", "maintain"))
+        self.assertTrue(module.is_authorized("write", "triage"))
+        self.assertFalse(module.is_authorized("write", "maintain"))
+        self.assertFalse(module.is_authorized("read", "write"))
+        self.assertFalse(module.is_authorized("none", "read"))
+
+    def test_rejects_unknown_minimum_permission(self) -> None:
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(ValueError, "unsupported minimum permission"):
+            module.is_authorized("admin", "owner")
+
+    def test_rejects_unknown_actual_permission(self) -> None:
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(ValueError, "unsupported repository permission"):
+            module.is_authorized("custom", "read")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()