diff --git a/.github/workflows/builddoc.yml b/.github/workflows/builddoc.yml
index b045fcfc2b4..3e1225c91da 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/builddoc.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/builddoc.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ name: Build document
 
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
index 091abd5c271..c98ff3620b8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/coverage.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ name: Coverage
 
 on: [push]
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   coverage:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
index 2da2ad3ea60..12ac825fb71 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/create-release.yml
@@ -5,8 +5,13 @@ on:
     tags:
     - "v*.*.*"
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   create-release:
+    permissions:
+      contents: write  # for softprops/action-gh-release to create GitHub release
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docutils-latest.yml b/.github/workflows/docutils-latest.yml
index 7a730d657ce..91d9a4197f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docutils-latest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docutils-latest.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ on:
   - cron: "0 0 * * SUN"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   test:
     if: github.repository_owner == 'sphinx-doc'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yml b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
index 48c21510a82..5e583d7b604 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ name: Lint source code
 
 on: [push, pull_request]
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/.github/workflows/transifex.yml b/.github/workflows/transifex.yml
index d986293f8d1..0f9533a59b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/transifex.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/transifex.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ on:
   - cron: "0 0 * * SUN"
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   push:
     if: github.repository_owner == 'sphinx-doc'
@@ -30,6 +33,9 @@ jobs:
         TX_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.TX_TOKEN }}
 
   pull:
+    permissions:
+      contents: write  # for peter-evans/create-pull-request to create branch
+      pull-requests: write  # for peter-evans/create-pull-request to create a PR
     if: github.repository_owner == 'sphinx-doc'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest