diff --git a/.lint/codespell_ignore_words.txt b/.lint/codespell_ignore_words.txt
index d2fdbb76..92350d4d 100644
--- a/.lint/codespell_ignore_words.txt
+++ b/.lint/codespell_ignore_words.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 assertIn
 EHR
 ehr
+fpr
 INFOR
 Infor
 infor
diff --git a/src/holoscan_cli/utils/host_setup.py b/src/holoscan_cli/utils/host_setup.py
index 0ea1a837..b6bf9634 100644
--- a/src/holoscan_cli/utils/host_setup.py
+++ b/src/holoscan_cli/utils/host_setup.py
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@
     "arm64": "fbb763bb818ca8ff3302a7764a95c63a42d80b7f864e87639833c55e59b6aadf",
     "linux": "a31a87a87593f5ca575d924f5e12cd0fcda1c81528f4cc3aebe0669e1643678f",
 }
+# Published at https://apt.kitware.com/. Update deliberately when Kitware rotates its key.
+_KITWARE_ARCHIVE_KEY_FINGERPRINT = "4DBEBE3EEC96E7B8C6EC5BE99E92FDC6C5B9BA75"
 
 
 class PackageInstallationError(Exception):
@@ -209,6 +211,15 @@ def get_ubuntu_codename() -> str:
 # ---- high-level setup_* orchestrators ---------------------------------------
 
 
+def _is_expected_kitware_key(key_listing: bytes) -> bool:
+    """Return whether GPG reported only Kitware's expected primary key."""
+    records = key_listing.decode(errors="replace").splitlines()
+    fingerprints = [record.split(":")[9].upper() for record in records if record.startswith("fpr:")]
+    return sum(record.startswith("pub:") for record in records) == 1 and fingerprints[:1] == [
+        _KITWARE_ARCHIVE_KEY_FINGERPRINT
+    ]
+
+
 def setup_cmake(min_version: str = "3.26.4", dry_run: bool = False) -> None:
     """Setup CMake from Kitware if needed"""
     global _apt_updated
@@ -240,6 +251,24 @@ def setup_cmake(min_version: str = "3.26.4", dry_run: bool = False) -> None:
                 check=True,
                 capture_output=True,
             ).stdout
+            key_listing = subprocess.run(
+                [
+                    gpg,
+                    "--batch",
+                    "--no-options",
+                    "--with-colons",
+                    "--fingerprint",
+                    "--show-keys",
+                ],
+                input=key,
+                check=True,
+                capture_output=True,
+            ).stdout
+            if not _is_expected_kitware_key(key_listing):
+                fatal(
+                    "Kitware apt archive key fingerprint verification failed: "
+                    f"expected {_KITWARE_ARCHIVE_KEY_FINGERPRINT}."
+                )
             dearmored = subprocess.run(
                 [gpg, "--dearmor"],
                 input=key,
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_host_setup.py b/tests/unit/test_host_setup.py
index e1635f5b..b107550f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_host_setup.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_host_setup.py
@@ -8,6 +8,15 @@
 from holoscan_cli.utils import host_setup
 
 
+def test_kitware_key_requires_one_matching_primary_key():
+    expected = host_setup._KITWARE_ARCHIVE_KEY_FINGERPRINT.encode()
+    listing = b"pub::::::::::\nfpr:::::::::" + expected + b":\nsub::::::::::\nfpr:::::::::1234:"
+
+    assert host_setup._is_expected_kitware_key(listing)
+    assert not host_setup._is_expected_kitware_key(listing.replace(expected, b"0" * 40))
+    assert not host_setup._is_expected_kitware_key(listing + b"\npub::::::::::")
+
+
 def test_install_packages_if_missing_installs_only_missing_and_pinned(monkeypatch):
     installed = {"already": "1.0.0"}
     updates = []