diff --git a/internal/tools/shell_deny_groups.go b/internal/tools/shell_deny_groups.go
index d2adce35..7ebb9adc 100644
--- a/internal/tools/shell_deny_groups.go
+++ b/internal/tools/shell_deny_groups.go
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@ import (
 	"regexp"
 )
 
+// unicodeCmdWord matches a command name (or alternation) as a standalone
+// word using a Unicode-aware boundary. Go's RE2 \b is ASCII-only, so a
+// pattern like \bsu\b matches the "su" inside non-ASCII words such as the
+// Vietnamese "suất" (the accented 'ấ' is not an ASCII word char, so \b
+// sees a spurious boundary right after "su"). Treating Unicode letters and
+// digits (\pL, \pN) as word chars avoids those false positives while still
+// matching the real `su` command.
+func unicodeCmdWord(alt string) *regexp.Regexp {
+	return regexp.MustCompile(`(?:^|[^\pL\pN_])(?:` + alt + `)(?:[^\pL\pN_]|$)`)
+}
+
 // DenyGroup is a named set of shell command deny patterns.
 type DenyGroup struct {
 	Name        string           // machine name: "package_install"
@@ -83,7 +94,7 @@ var DenyGroupRegistry = map[string]*DenyGroup{
 		Default:     true,
 		Patterns: []*regexp.Regexp{
 			regexp.MustCompile(`\bsudo\b`),
-			regexp.MustCompile(`\bsu\b`),
+			unicodeCmdWord("su"),
 			regexp.MustCompile(`\bdoas\b`),
 			regexp.MustCompile(`\bpkexec\b`),
 			regexp.MustCompile(`\brunuser\b`),
diff --git a/internal/tools/shell_deny_test.go b/internal/tools/shell_deny_test.go
index 7017875e..8ddac91d 100644
--- a/internal/tools/shell_deny_test.go
+++ b/internal/tools/shell_deny_test.go
@@ -130,14 +130,19 @@ func TestPrivilegeEscalationGaps(t *testing.T) {
 	)
 
 	mustAllow(t, patterns,
-		"summit",    // not "su"
-		"sugar",     // not "su"
-		"surplus",   // not "su"
-		"issue",     // not "su"
-		"result",    // not "su"
-		"resume",    // not "su"
-		"visual",    // not "su"
-		"sushi",     // not "su"
+		"summit",  // not "su"
+		"sugar",   // not "su"
+		"surplus", // not "su"
+		"issue",   // not "su"
+		"result",  // not "su"
+		"resume",  // not "su"
+		"visual",  // not "su"
+		"sushi",   // not "su"
+		// non-ASCII (Vietnamese) text: ASCII "su" adjacent to an accented
+		// vowel must NOT match the su command (Go RE2 word boundaries are ASCII-only).
+		"hiệu suất",
+		"năng suất",
+		"báo cáo hiệu suất tháng",
 		"doaspkg",   // not "doas" (no word boundary)
 		"pkexecute", // not "pkexec" (no word boundary)
 	)