diff --git a/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c b/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
index 6e7f104dd..5acacc5cb 100644
--- a/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
+++ b/wolfcrypt/src/aes.c
@@ -8345,19 +8345,22 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmEncrypt_STM32(
     }
     XMEMCPY(ctrInit, ctr, sizeof(ctr)); /* save off initial counter for GMAC */
 
-    /* Authentication buffer - must be 4-byte multiple zero padded */
-    authPadSz = authInSz % sizeof(word32);
+    /* Authentication buffer */
+#if STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 1
+    authPadSz = 0; /* CubeHAL supports byte mode */
+#else
+    authPadSz = authInSz % STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH;
+#endif
 #ifdef WOLFSSL_STM32MP13
     /* STM32MP13 HAL at least v1.2 and lower has a bug with which it needs a
-     * minimum of 16 bytes for the auth
-     */
+     * minimum of 16 bytes for the auth */
     if ((authInSz > 0) && (authInSz < 16)) {
         authPadSz = 16 - authInSz;
     }
 #endif
     if (authPadSz != 0) {
-        if (authPadSz < authInSz + sizeof(word32)) {
-            authPadSz = authInSz + sizeof(word32) - authPadSz;
+        if (authPadSz < authInSz + STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH) {
+            authPadSz = authInSz + STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH - authPadSz;
         }
         if (authPadSz <= sizeof(authhdr)) {
             authInPadded = (byte*)authhdr;
@@ -8385,7 +8388,7 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmEncrypt_STM32(
         /* or hardware that does not support partial block */
         || sz == 0 || partial != 0
     #endif
-    #if !defined(STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH) || STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 4
+    #if STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 4
         /* or authIn is not a multiple of 4  */
         || authPadSz != authInSz
     #endif
@@ -8444,7 +8447,7 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmEncrypt_STM32(
     /* Set the CRYP parameters */
     hcryp.Init.HeaderSize = authPadSz;
     if (authPadSz == 0)
-        hcryp.Init.Header = NULL; /* cannot pass pointer here when authIn == 0 */
+        hcryp.Init.Header = NULL; /* cannot pass pointer when authIn == 0 */
     hcryp.Init.ChainingMode  = CRYP_CHAINMODE_AES_GCM_GMAC;
     hcryp.Init.OperatingMode = CRYP_ALGOMODE_ENCRYPT;
     hcryp.Init.GCMCMACPhase  = CRYP_INIT_PHASE;
@@ -8884,22 +8887,25 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmDecrypt_STM32(
      * For TLS blocks the authTag is after the output buffer, so save it */
     XMEMCPY(tagExpected, authTag, authTagSz);
 
-    /* Authentication buffer - must be 4-byte multiple zero padded */
-    authPadSz = authInSz % sizeof(word32);
+    /* Authentication buffer */
+#if STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 1
+    authPadSz = 0; /* CubeHAL supports byte mode */
+#else
+    authPadSz = authInSz % STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH;
+#endif
+#ifdef WOLFSSL_STM32MP13
+    /* STM32MP13 HAL at least v1.2 and lower has a bug with which it needs a
+     * minimum of 16 bytes for the auth */
+    if ((authInSz > 0) && (authInSz < 16)) {
+        authPadSz = 16 - authInSz;
+    }
+#else
     if (authPadSz != 0) {
-        authPadSz = authInSz + sizeof(word32) - authPadSz;
+        authPadSz = authInSz + STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH - authPadSz;
     }
     else {
         authPadSz = authInSz;
     }
-
-#ifdef WOLFSSL_STM32MP13
-    /* STM32MP13 HAL at least v1.2 and lower has a bug with which it needs a
-     * minimum of 16 bytes for the auth
-     */
-    if ((authInSz > 0) && (authInSz < 16)) {
-        authPadSz = 16 - authInSz;
-    }
 #endif
 
     /* for cases where hardware cannot be used for authTag calculate it */
@@ -8909,7 +8915,7 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmDecrypt_STM32(
         /* or hardware that does not support partial block */
         || sz == 0 || partial != 0
     #endif
-    #if !defined(STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH) || STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 4
+    #if STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH == 4
         /* or authIn is not a multiple of 4  */
         || authPadSz != authInSz
     #endif
@@ -8949,6 +8955,7 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmDecrypt_STM32(
     if (ret != 0) {
         return ret;
     }
+
 #ifdef WOLFSSL_STM32_CUBEMX
     hcryp.Init.pInitVect = (STM_CRYPT_TYPE*)ctr;
     hcryp.Init.Header = (STM_CRYPT_TYPE*)authInPadded;
@@ -8956,7 +8963,6 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmDecrypt_STM32(
 #if defined(STM32_HAL_V2)
     hcryp.Init.Algorithm = CRYP_AES_GCM;
     hcryp.Init.HeaderSize = authPadSz / STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH;
-
     #ifdef CRYP_KEYIVCONFIG_ONCE
     /* allows repeated calls to HAL_CRYP_Decrypt */
     hcryp.Init.KeyIVConfigSkip = CRYP_KEYIVCONFIG_ONCE;
@@ -8966,6 +8972,7 @@ static WARN_UNUSED_RESULT int wc_AesGcmDecrypt_STM32(
     HAL_CRYP_Init(&hcryp);
 
     #ifndef CRYP_KEYIVCONFIG_ONCE
+    /* GCM payload phase - can handle partial blocks */
     status = HAL_CRYP_Decrypt(&hcryp, (uint32_t*)in,
         (blocks * WC_AES_BLOCK_SIZE) + partial, (uint32_t*)out, STM32_HAL_TIMEOUT);
     #else
diff --git a/wolfssl/internal.h b/wolfssl/internal.h
index 23ed5f09c..56fbc7e0c 100644
--- a/wolfssl/internal.h
+++ b/wolfssl/internal.h
@@ -249,8 +249,8 @@
     #endif
 #endif
 
-#if !defined(CHAR_BIT) || (defined(OPENSSL_EXTRA) && !defined(INT_MAX))
-    /* Needed for DTLS without big math and INT_MAX */
+#if !defined(WOLFCRYPT_ONLY) && !defined(INT_MAX)
+    /* Needed for TLS/DTLS limit checking (Added in 91aad90c59 Jan 24, 2025) */
     #include <limits.h>
 #endif
 
diff --git a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/port/st/stm32.h b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/port/st/stm32.h
index 94195f60e..b3768ae7b 100644
--- a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/port/st/stm32.h
+++ b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/port/st/stm32.h
@@ -188,12 +188,15 @@ int  wc_Stm32_Hash_Final(STM32_HASH_Context* stmCtx, word32 algo,
         #define STM_CRYPT_TYPE uint8_t
     #endif
 
-    /* newer crypt HAL requires auth header size as 4 bytes (word) */
-    #if defined(CRYP_HEADERWIDTHUNIT_BYTE) && \
-        !defined(WOLFSSL_STM32MP13) && !defined(WOLFSSL_STM32H7S)
-        #define STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH 1
-    #else
-        #define STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH 4
+    /* Determine minimum AES GCM alignment supported */
+    #ifndef STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH
+        /* newer crypt HAL requires auth header size as 4 bytes (word) */
+        #if defined(CRYP_HEADERWIDTHUNIT_BYTE) && \
+            !defined(WOLFSSL_STM32MP13) && !defined(WOLFSSL_STM32H7S)
+            #define STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH 1
+        #else
+            #define STM_CRYPT_HEADER_WIDTH 4
+        #endif
     #endif
 
     /* CRYPT_AES_GCM starts the IV with 2 */