diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9ac4e7f..0179dfb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ const result = parse(soapResponse, {
 | `attributeNamePrefix` | `string`  | `'@_'`  | Prefix prepended to attribute names in the output object |
 | `parseTagValue`       | `boolean` | `true`  | Coerce numeric/boolean text values to their JS types     |
 | `processEntities`     | `boolean` | `true`  | Decode XML entities (`&amp;` → `&`, `&lt;` → `<`, etc.)  |
+| `maxDepth`            | `number`  | `256`   | Maximum nesting depth allowed. Throws if exceeded        |
+| `strict`              | `boolean` | `false` | Throw on malformed XML (unclosed, mismatched, or extra closing tags) |
 
 ### `build(obj: Record<string, unknown>, options?: BuildOptions): string`
 
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@ The parser produces the same object shape as `fast-xml-parser`:
 - Processing instructions (skipped)
 - Self-closing tags
 - XML declaration (skipped)
-- Built-in XML entities (`&amp;`, `&lt;`, `&gt;`, `&quot;`, `&apos;`)
+- XML entities: named (`&amp;`, `&lt;`, `&gt;`, `&quot;`, `&apos;`) and numeric (`&#123;`, `&#x7B;`)
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/src/__tests__/build.test.ts b/src/__tests__/build.test.ts
index bad76b6..7272aa2 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/build.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/build.test.ts
@@ -123,6 +123,51 @@ describe('build', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('builder edge cases', () => {
+    it('builds elements with special characters in text that need escaping', () => {
+      expect(build({ root: 'Tom & Jerry <"friends">' })).toBe(
+        '<root>Tom &amp; Jerry &lt;&quot;friends&quot;&gt;</root>',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('handles deeply nested objects', () => {
+      const deep = { a: { b: { c: { d: { e: 'val' } } } } };
+      expect(build(deep)).toBe('<a><b><c><d><e>val</e></d></c></b></a>');
+    });
+
+    it('handles arrays of objects with mixed content', () => {
+      const obj = {
+        root: {
+          item: [
+            { '@_id': '1', '#text': 'first' },
+            { '@_id': '2', child: 'nested' },
+            'plain',
+          ],
+        },
+      };
+      const result = build(obj);
+      expect(result).toContain('<item id="1">first</item>');
+      expect(result).toContain('<item id="2"><child>nested</child></item>');
+      expect(result).toContain('<item>plain</item>');
+    });
+
+    it('handles numeric zero values', () => {
+      expect(build({ root: { count: 0 } })).toBe('<root><count>0</count></root>');
+    });
+
+    it('handles false boolean values', () => {
+      expect(build({ root: { flag: false } })).toBe('<root><flag>false</flag></root>');
+    });
+
+    it('handles empty object as self-closing', () => {
+      expect(build({ root: {} })).toBe('<root/>');
+    });
+
+    it('handles empty array (no output for key)', () => {
+      expect(build({ root: { items: [] } })).toBe('<root></root>');
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('round-trip', () => {
     it('parse -> build -> parse produces equivalent structure', () => {
       const xml = '<root><items><item id="1">first</item><item id="2">second</item></items></root>';
diff --git a/src/__tests__/parse.test.ts b/src/__tests__/parse.test.ts
index 55c83f3..c003d61 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/parse.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/parse.test.ts
@@ -294,6 +294,12 @@ describe('parse', () => {
       expect(() => parse('<a><b>text</b></a>', { strict: true })).not.toThrow();
     });
 
+    it('throws on extra closing tags in strict mode', () => {
+      expect(() => parse('<root>text</root></extra>', { strict: true })).toThrow(
+        'Unexpected closing tag </extra>',
+      );
+    });
+
     it('silently ignores unclosed tags when strict is false (default)', () => {
       const result = parse('<a><b>text</b>');
       expect(result).toEqual({});
@@ -351,4 +357,151 @@ describe('parse', () => {
       expect(execResult.exceptionStackTrace).toEqual({ '@_nil': 'true' });
     });
   });
+
+  describe('numeric entity handling', () => {
+    it('decodes decimal numeric entities', () => {
+      expect(parse('<root>&#72;&#101;&#108;&#108;&#111;</root>')).toEqual({ root: 'Hello' });
+    });
+
+    it('decodes hex numeric entities', () => {
+      expect(parse('<root>&#x48;&#x65;&#x6C;&#x6C;&#x6F;</root>')).toEqual({ root: 'Hello' });
+    });
+
+    it('decodes mixed named and numeric entities', () => {
+      expect(parse('<root>&lt;div class=&#34;test&#34;&gt;</root>')).toEqual({ root: '<div class="test">' });
+    });
+
+    it('leaves numeric entities as-is when processEntities is false', () => {
+      expect(parse('<root>&#72;ello</root>', { processEntities: false })).toEqual({ root: '&#72;ello' });
+    });
+
+    it('handles numeric entities in attribute values', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root title="&#72;ello">text</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { '#text': 'text', '@_title': 'Hello' } });
+    });
+
+    it('leaves invalid numeric entities as-is instead of crashing', () => {
+      expect(parse('<root>&#99999999999;</root>')).toEqual({ root: '&#99999999999;' });
+      expect(parse('<root>&#xFFFFFFFF;</root>')).toEqual({ root: '&#xFFFFFFFF;' });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('malformed XML handling', () => {
+    it('handles unclosed tags gracefully in non-strict mode', () => {
+      expect(() => parse('<root><unclosed>text')).not.toThrow();
+    });
+
+    it('handles extra closing tags gracefully in non-strict mode', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root>text</root></extra>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: 'text' });
+    });
+
+    it('handles completely empty input', () => {
+      expect(parse('')).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('handles whitespace-only input', () => {
+      expect(parse('   \n\t  ')).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('handles XML with only a declaration', () => {
+      expect(parse('<?xml version="1.0"?>')).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('handles XML with only comments', () => {
+      expect(parse('<!-- just a comment -->')).toEqual({});
+    });
+
+    it('handles unescaped ampersand in text content without crashing', () => {
+      expect(() => parse('<root>AT&T</root>')).not.toThrow();
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('whitespace edge cases', () => {
+    it('handles whitespace-only text nodes between elements', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root>\n  <a>1</a>\n  <b>2</b>\n</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { a: 1, b: 2 } });
+    });
+
+    it('preserves significant whitespace in text content with trimValues false', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root>  line1\n  line2  </root>', { trimValues: false });
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: '  line1\n  line2  ' });
+    });
+
+    it('does not crash on malformed tags with whitespace in names', () => {
+      // < root > is not valid XML — just verify no crash
+      const result = parse('< root >value</ root >');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ '': 'value' });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('CDATA edge cases', () => {
+    it('handles multiple adjacent CDATA sections', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root><![CDATA[part1]]><![CDATA[part2]]></root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: 'part1part2' });
+    });
+
+    it('handles CDATA mixed with regular text', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root>before<![CDATA[<middle>]]>after</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: 'before<middle>after' });
+    });
+
+    it('handles empty CDATA', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root><![CDATA[]]></root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: '' });
+    });
+
+    it('handles CDATA with newlines and special characters', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root><![CDATA[line1\nline2\t& <special>]]></root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: 'line1\nline2\t& <special>' });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('attribute edge cases', () => {
+    it('handles attributes with empty values', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root attr="">text</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { '#text': 'text', '@_attr': '' } });
+    });
+
+    it('handles attributes with encoded entities in values', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root title="a &amp; b">text</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { '#text': 'text', '@_title': 'a & b' } });
+    });
+
+    it('handles attributes with encoded entities when processEntities is false', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root title="a &amp; b">text</root>', { processEntities: false });
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { '#text': 'text', '@_title': 'a &amp; b' } });
+    });
+
+    it('handles many attributes on one element', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root a="1" b="2" c="3" d="4" e="5">text</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({
+        root: { '#text': 'text', '@_a': '1', '@_b': '2', '@_c': '3', '@_d': '4', '@_e': '5' },
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('handles duplicate attributes (last wins)', () => {
+      const result = parse('<root attr="first" attr="second">text</root>');
+      expect(result).toEqual({ root: { '#text': 'text', '@_attr': 'second' } });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('large payloads', () => {
+    it('handles XML with many sibling elements', () => {
+      const items = Array.from({ length: 1000 }, (_, i) => `<item>${i}</item>`).join('');
+      const xml = `<root>${items}</root>`;
+      const result = parse(xml);
+      const arr = (result.root as any).item as number[];
+      expect(arr).toHaveLength(1000);
+      expect(arr[0]).toBe(0);
+      expect(arr[999]).toBe(999);
+    });
+
+    it('handles XML with very long text content', () => {
+      const longText = 'x'.repeat(100_000);
+      const xml = `<root>${longText}</root>`;
+      const result = parse(xml);
+      expect(result.root).toBe(longText);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/parse.ts b/src/parse.ts
index c75d5ed..184c8d9 100644
--- a/src/parse.ts
+++ b/src/parse.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,19 @@ const ENTITY_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
   '&apos;': "'",
 };
 
-const ENTITY_RE = /&(?:amp|lt|gt|quot|apos);/g;
+const ENTITY_RE = /&(?:amp|lt|gt|quot|apos|#x[0-9a-fA-F]+|#[0-9]+);/g;
 
 function decodeEntities(str: string): string {
-  return str.replace(ENTITY_RE, match => ENTITY_MAP[match] || match);
+  return str.replace(ENTITY_RE, match => {
+    if (match in ENTITY_MAP) return ENTITY_MAP[match]!;
+    try {
+      if (match.startsWith('&#x')) return String.fromCodePoint(parseInt(match.slice(3, -1), 16));
+      if (match.startsWith('&#')) return String.fromCodePoint(parseInt(match.slice(2, -1), 10));
+    } catch {
+      return match;
+    }
+    return match;
+  });
 }
 
 function removeNS(name: string): string {
@@ -137,6 +146,17 @@ export function parse(xml: string, options?: ParseOptions): Record<string, unkno
         const end = xml.indexOf('>', i + 2);
         if (end === -1) break;
 
+        // Guard against extra closing tags that would pop the root sentinel
+        if (stack.length <= 1) {
+          if (strict) {
+            let closingName = xml.slice(i + 2, end).trim();
+            if (rmNSPrefix) closingName = removeNS(closingName);
+            throw new Error(`Unexpected closing tag </${closingName}>`);
+          }
+          i = end + 1;
+          continue;
+        }
+
         if (strict) {
           let closingName = xml.slice(i + 2, end).trim();
           if (rmNSPrefix) closingName = removeNS(closingName);