diff --git a/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/registrar/LocalDevice.java b/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/registrar/LocalDevice.java
index d0b1ec3541..53b18cca4b 100644
--- a/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/registrar/LocalDevice.java
+++ b/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/registrar/LocalDevice.java
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 import com.google.daq.mqtt.util.CloudIotManager;
 import com.google.daq.mqtt.util.ConfigManager;
 import com.google.daq.mqtt.util.DeviceExceptionManager;
+import com.google.daq.mqtt.util.KeyValidator;
 import com.google.udmi.util.ErrorMap;
 import com.google.udmi.util.ErrorMap.ErrorMapException;
 import com.google.udmi.util.ExceptionMap;
@@ -191,6 +192,8 @@ class LocalDevice {
   private ConfigManager config;
   private final DeviceExceptionManager exceptionManager;
   private final SiteModel siteModel;
+  // In LocalDevice.java, add with other member variables.
+  private final KeyValidator keyValidator = new KeyValidator();
 
   private String deviceNumId;
 
@@ -228,6 +231,8 @@ class LocalDevice {
   public void initialize() {
     prepareOutDir();
     ifTrueThen(deviceKind == DeviceKind.LOCAL && metadata != null, this::validateMetadata);
+    ifTrueThen(deviceKind == DeviceKind.LOCAL && metadata != null, this::validateKeyPair);
+
     configure();
   }
 
@@ -428,6 +433,49 @@ private Set<String> keyFiles() {
     return addCertFile ? Sets.union(combined, certFile) : combined;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Validates that if a private key is provided, the corresponding public key
+   * exists and they form a valid cryptographic pair.
+   */
+  private void validateKeyPair() {
+    try {
+      String authType = getAuthType();
+      if (authType == null || !(authType.startsWith("RS") || authType.startsWith("ES"))) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      String keyAlgorithm = authType.startsWith("RS") ? "rsa" : "ec";
+      String pemFileName = keyAlgorithm + "_private.pem";
+      File privateKeyFile = new File(deviceDir, pemFileName);
+
+      if (!privateKeyFile.exists()) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      String publicKeyFileName = getPublicKeyFile();
+      if (publicKeyFileName == null) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("Private key " + privateKeyFile.getName()
+            + " found, but no public key is defined for auth_type " + authType);
+      }
+
+      File publicKeyFile = new File(deviceDir, publicKeyFileName);
+      if (!publicKeyFile.exists()) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("Private key " + privateKeyFile.getName()
+            + " found, but corresponding public key " + publicKeyFileName + " is missing.");
+      }
+
+      if (!keyValidator.keysMatch(privateKeyFile, publicKeyFile, keyAlgorithm)) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("Key pair mismatch for " + publicKeyFile.getName()
+            + " and " + privateKeyFile.getName());
+      }
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      captureError(ExceptionCategory.credentials, e);
+      throw new RuntimeException("Aborting due to key validation failure for device "
+          + deviceId, e);
+    }
+  }
+
+
   private Set<String> getPrivateKeyFiles() {
     if (isDeviceKeySource() || !hasAuthType()) {
       return Set.of();
diff --git a/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/util/KeyValidator.java b/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/util/KeyValidator.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a90fd49fe7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validator/src/main/java/com/google/daq/mqtt/util/KeyValidator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+package com.google.daq.mqtt.util;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileReader;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.security.PrivateKey;
+import java.security.PublicKey;
+import java.security.Security;
+import java.security.Signature;
+import org.bouncycastle.asn1.pkcs.PrivateKeyInfo;
+import org.bouncycastle.asn1.x509.SubjectPublicKeyInfo;
+import org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider;
+import org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMKeyPair;
+import org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMParser;
+import org.bouncycastle.openssl.jcajce.JcaPEMKeyConverter;
+import org.bouncycastle.pkcs.PKCS8EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo;
+
+/**
+ * A helper class to validate cryptographic key pairs.
+ */
+public class KeyValidator {
+
+  private static final BouncyCastleProvider BC_PROVIDER = new BouncyCastleProvider();
+
+  static {
+    if (Security.getProvider(BouncyCastleProvider.PROVIDER_NAME) == null) {
+      Security.addProvider(BC_PROVIDER);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private Object readPemObject(Path path) throws IOException {
+    if (!path.toFile().exists()) {
+      throw new IOException("Key file not found: " + path);
+    }
+    try (FileReader fileReader = new FileReader(path.toFile());
+        PEMParser pemParser = new PEMParser(fileReader)) {
+      Object object = pemParser.readObject();
+      if (object == null) {
+        throw new IOException("No PEM object found in " + path);
+      }
+      return object;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private PrivateKey loadPrivateKey(Path path) throws Exception {
+    Object pemObject = readPemObject(path);
+    JcaPEMKeyConverter converter = new JcaPEMKeyConverter().setProvider(BC_PROVIDER);
+    PrivateKey privateKey;
+
+    try {
+      if (pemObject instanceof PEMKeyPair) {
+        privateKey = converter.getPrivateKey(((PEMKeyPair) pemObject).getPrivateKeyInfo());
+      } else if (pemObject instanceof PrivateKeyInfo) {
+        privateKey = converter.getPrivateKey((PrivateKeyInfo) pemObject);
+      } else if (pemObject instanceof PKCS8EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Private key in " + path.getFileName()
+            + " is encrypted. Please provide a decrypted key.");
+      } else {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported PEM object type for private key: "
+            + pemObject.getClass().getName());
+      }
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      throw new Exception("Failed to convert PEM object to PrivateKey for " + path.getFileName()
+          + ": " + e.getMessage(), e);
+    }
+
+    if (privateKey == null) {
+      throw new Exception("JcaPEMKeyConverter returned null private key from "
+          + path.getFileName());
+    }
+    return privateKey;
+  }
+
+  private PublicKey loadPublicKey(Path path) throws Exception {
+    Object pemObject = readPemObject(path);
+    JcaPEMKeyConverter converter = new JcaPEMKeyConverter().setProvider(BC_PROVIDER);
+    PublicKey publicKey;
+
+    try {
+      if (pemObject instanceof SubjectPublicKeyInfo) {
+        publicKey = converter.getPublicKey((SubjectPublicKeyInfo) pemObject);
+      } else if (pemObject instanceof PEMKeyPair) {
+        publicKey = converter.getPublicKey(((PEMKeyPair) pemObject).getPublicKeyInfo());
+      } else {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported PEM object type for public key: "
+            + pemObject.getClass().getName());
+      }
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      throw new Exception("Failed to convert PEM object to PublicKey for " + path.getFileName()
+          + ": " + e.getMessage(), e);
+    }
+
+    if (publicKey == null) {
+      throw new Exception("JcaPEMKeyConverter returned null public key from " + path.getFileName());
+    }
+    return publicKey;
+  }
+
+  private boolean checkKeyPairMatch(PrivateKey privateKey, PublicKey publicKey, String keyAlgorithm)
+      throws Exception {
+    String signatureAlgorithm;
+    if ("RSA".equalsIgnoreCase(keyAlgorithm)) {
+      signatureAlgorithm = "SHA256withRSA";
+    } else if ("EC".equalsIgnoreCase(keyAlgorithm)) {
+      signatureAlgorithm = "SHA256withECDSA";
+    } else {
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unsupported key algorithm for signature: "
+          + keyAlgorithm);
+    }
+
+    byte[] challenge = new byte[1024];
+    Signature signature = Signature.getInstance(signatureAlgorithm, BC_PROVIDER);
+
+    signature.initSign(privateKey);
+    signature.update(challenge);
+    byte[] signatureInBytes = signature.sign();
+
+    signature.initVerify(publicKey);
+    signature.update(challenge);
+    boolean isValid = signature.verify(signatureInBytes);
+    return isValid;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Checks if the provided private and public key files form a valid cryptographic pair
+   * for the specified key algorithm.
+   *
+   * @param privateKeyFile the {@link File} object for the private key PEM file.
+   * @param publicKeyFile the {@link File} object for the public key PEM file.
+   * @param keyAlgorithm the expected key algorithm, either "RSA" or "EC" (case-insensitive).
+   * @return {@code true} if the keys match and are valid for the algorithm, else {@code false}.
+   *         Errors during loading or validation also result in {@code false}.
+   */
+  public boolean keysMatch(File privateKeyFile, File publicKeyFile, String keyAlgorithm) {
+    if (privateKeyFile == null || publicKeyFile == null) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    if (!("RSA".equalsIgnoreCase(keyAlgorithm) || "EC".equalsIgnoreCase(keyAlgorithm))) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    return keysMatch(privateKeyFile.toPath(), publicKeyFile.toPath(), keyAlgorithm.toUpperCase());
+  }
+
+  private boolean keysMatch(Path privateKeyPath, Path publicKeyPath, String keyAlgorithm) {
+    try {
+      PrivateKey privateKey = loadPrivateKey(privateKeyPath);
+      PublicKey publicKey = loadPublicKey(publicKeyPath);
+
+      return checkKeyPairMatch(privateKey, publicKey, keyAlgorithm);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+}