diff --git a/docs/m17-m18-plan.md b/docs/m17-m18-plan.md
index 0d38428..e3e0efe 100644
--- a/docs/m17-m18-plan.md
+++ b/docs/m17-m18-plan.md
@@ -35,7 +35,10 @@ only when its definition of green holds.
 - [x] **M17.2** — exit reasons (`ExitReason` recorded at exit/fault/kill before
       the notification; `process_exit_reason` supervisor-gated;
       `runtime.process.exitReason`; kernel + ring-3 assertions; suite 49/49)
-- [ ] **M17.3** — published exit events + VFS subscriber
+- [x] **M17.3** — published exit events + VFS subscriber (`process_subscribe`,
+      bounded ref-counted table, publish on every death;
+      `runtime.process.subscribeExits`; VFS handles carry owners and are swept on
+      the owner's death; `vfs-client-death` test; suite 50/50)
 - [ ] **M17.4** — signals, timer notifications, `runtime.process`, the service harness
 - [ ] **merge** `feat/process-lifecycle` → main, push
 - [ ] **M18.1** — device-manager protocol: hello + restart policy (branch `feat/device-manager`)
diff --git a/library/runtime/process.zig b/library/runtime/process.zig
index d0f66db..064e50f 100644
--- a/library/runtime/process.zig
+++ b/library/runtime/process.zig
@@ -66,3 +66,13 @@ pub fn exitReason(id: u32) ?ExitReason {
     if (r > ~@as(usize, 0) - 4095) return null; // a wrapped -errno
     return @enumFromInt(r);
 }
+
+/// Subscribe `endpoint` to published exit events: every process death posts an
+/// asynchronous notification with the same badge encoding as a supervisor's exit
+/// notice (decode with `ipc.Received.isChildExit`/`childProcessId`). For stateful
+/// services: release what the dead client held — file handles, subscriptions —
+/// because a service must never depend on clients cleaning up after themselves
+/// (docs/process-lifecycle.md). Ungated, like `system.processes`.
+pub fn subscribeExits(endpoint: usize) bool {
+    return sc.systemCall1(.process_subscribe, endpoint) == 0;
+}
diff --git a/system/abi.zig b/system/abi.zig
index c3c4d97..95a9a0d 100644
--- a/system/abi.zig
+++ b/system/abi.zig
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ pub const SystemCall = enum(u64) {
     process_kill = 25, // process_kill(id) -> 0/-errno: end a process this process spawned
     ipc_send = 26, // ipc_send(handle, message_ptr, message_len) -> 0/-errno: post a payload to an endpoint's async queue without blocking
     process_exit_reason = 27, // process_exit_reason(id) -> ExitReason/-errno: how a dead child ended (its supervisor only)
+    process_subscribe = 28, // process_subscribe(endpoint) -> 0/-errno: subscribe to published exit events — every death posts a notification
     _,
 };
 
diff --git a/system/kernel/process.zig b/system/kernel/process.zig
index 5896c74..9b2662c 100644
--- a/system/kernel/process.zig
+++ b/system/kernel/process.zig
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@ fn system_call(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
         .process_enumerate => systemProcessEnumerate(state),
         .process_kill => systemProcessKill(state),
         .process_exit_reason => systemProcessExitReason(state),
+        .process_subscribe => systemProcessSubscribe(state),
         _ => fail(state),
     }
 }
@@ -574,6 +575,16 @@ fn releaseTaskResourcesLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
     recordExitLocked(t);
     irq.releaseOwner(t.id);
     devices_broker.releaseAllOwnedBy(t.id);
+    // A dead subscriber's own subscriptions go first: it must not hear about
+    // itself, and the slots' endpoint references drop with it.
+    for (&exit_subscribers) |*slot| {
+        if (slot.*) |subscriber| {
+            if (subscriber.owner == t.id) {
+                ipc.dropRef(subscriber.endpoint);
+                slot.* = null;
+            }
+        }
+    }
     if (t.ipc_client) |client| {
         t.ipc_client = null;
         client.ipc_status = -ipc.EPEER;
@@ -583,6 +594,12 @@ fn releaseTaskResourcesLocked(t: *scheduler.Task) void {
     scheduler.removeFromWaitQueueLocked(t);
     scheduler.forgetIpcClientLocked(t);
     ipc.closeHandles(t);
+    // Publish the exit to every subscriber (docs/process-lifecycle.md): the same
+    // badge encoding as the supervisor's notification, and equally late, so a
+    // subscriber also observes a fully-released child.
+    for (&exit_subscribers) |*slot| {
+        if (slot.*) |subscriber| ipc.notifyLocked(subscriber.endpoint, abi.notify_exit_bit | t.id);
+    }
     if (t.exit_endpoint) |raw| {
         const endpoint: *ipc.Endpoint = @ptrCast(@alignCast(raw));
         t.exit_endpoint = null;
@@ -690,6 +707,34 @@ pub fn exitReasonOf(caller_id: u32, target_id: u32) i64 {
     return -ipc.ESRCH;
 }
 
+/// The published exit events' subscribers (docs/process-lifecycle.md "Who learns
+/// of a death"): stateful services — the VFS's file handles, input's
+/// subscriptions — that must release what a dead client held and cannot learn it
+/// any other way (a client that simply never calls again looks like silence).
+/// Bounded like every kernel table; each entry holds its own endpoint reference.
+const exit_subscriber_capacity = 8;
+const ExitSubscriber = struct { endpoint: *ipc.Endpoint, owner: u32 };
+var exit_subscribers: [exit_subscriber_capacity]?ExitSubscriber = .{null} ** exit_subscriber_capacity;
+
+/// process_subscribe(endpoint): subscribe the caller's endpoint to published exit
+/// events. Ungated, like process_enumerate — what is running (and dying) is not a
+/// secret between cooperating processes. -ENOSPC when the table is full.
+fn systemProcessSubscribe(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
+    const t = scheduler.current();
+    if (t.aspace == 0) return fail(state);
+    const endpoint = ipc.resolveHandle(t, architecture.systemCallArg(state, 0)) orelse return failErr(state, ipc.EBADF);
+    const flags = sync.enter();
+    defer sync.leave(flags);
+    for (&exit_subscribers) |*slot| {
+        if (slot.* == null) {
+            endpoint.refcount += 1; // the slot's own reference, dropped on unsubscribe-by-death
+            slot.* = .{ .endpoint = endpoint, .owner = t.id };
+            return architecture.setSystemCallResult(state, 0);
+        }
+    }
+    failErr(state, ipc.ENOSPC);
+}
+
 fn systemProcessExitReason(state: *architecture.CpuState) void {
     const t = scheduler.current();
     if (t.aspace == 0) return fail(state);
diff --git a/system/kernel/tests.zig b/system/kernel/tests.zig
index 38bdf98..d289039 100644
--- a/system/kernel/tests.zig
+++ b/system/kernel/tests.zig
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ pub fn run(case: []const u8, boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
         supervisionTest(boot_information);
     } else if (eql(case, "claim-release")) {
         claimReleaseTest(boot_information);
+    } else if (eql(case, "vfs-client-death")) {
+        vfsClientDeathTest(boot_information);
     } else if (eql(case, "initial-ramdisk")) {
         initialRamdiskTest(boot_information);
     } else if (eql(case, "vfs")) {
@@ -1535,6 +1537,74 @@ fn claimReleaseTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
     result();
 }
 
+/// M17.3: the published exit events, proven by their first subscriber. The VFS
+/// subscribes at startup; a client opens a file and parks holding the handle;
+/// the kill posts the exit event to the VFS's endpoint; the VFS releases the
+/// dead client's handle and says so — the service-side mirror of iron rule 1
+/// (a service must never depend on clients cleaning up after themselves).
+fn vfsClientDeathTest(boot_information: *const BootInformation) void {
+    log("DANOS-TEST-BEGIN: vfs-client-death\n", .{});
+    if (boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len == 0) {
+        check("bootloader handed over an initial_ramdisk", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    }
+    const image = @as([*]const u8, @ptrFromInt(boot_handoff.physicalToVirtual(boot_information.initial_ramdisk_base)))[0..boot_information.initial_ramdisk_len];
+    const rd = initial_ramdisk.Reader.init(image) orelse {
+        check("initial_ramdisk image is valid", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+
+    process.write_count = 0;
+    check("vfs spawned", spawnNamed(rd, "vfs"));
+
+    const me = scheduler.currentId();
+    const endpoint = ipcsync.createIpcEndpoint() orelse {
+        check("exit endpoint allocated", false);
+        result();
+        return;
+    };
+    var client: u32 = 0;
+    var i: u32 = 0;
+    while (i < rd.count) : (i += 1) {
+        const item = rd.entry(i) orelse continue;
+        if (!eql(item.name, "vfs-test")) continue;
+        client = process.spawnProcessSupervised(item.blob, 4, &.{ "vfs-test", "park" }, me, endpoint) catch 0;
+        break;
+    }
+    check("parked client spawned (supervised)", client != 0);
+
+    // Its heartbeat is the fence: once it beats, the handle is open.
+    const parked = "vfstest: parked";
+    scheduler.setPriority(1);
+    var deadline = architecture.millis() + 10000;
+    while (architecture.millis() < deadline) {
+        if (process.write_len >= parked.len and eql(process.write_buffer[0..parked.len], parked)) break;
+        scheduler.yield();
+    }
+    scheduler.setPriority(4);
+    check("client parked holding an open handle", process.write_len >= parked.len and eql(process.write_buffer[0..parked.len], parked));
+
+    check("the kill is accepted", process.killProcess(me, client) == 0);
+    var badge: u64 = 0;
+    var received_cap: u64 = 0;
+    _ = ipcsync.replyWait(endpoint, 0, 0, 0, 0, abi.no_cap, &badge, &received_cap);
+    check("the exit notification arrived", badge == abi.notify_badge_bit | abi.notify_exit_bit | client);
+
+    // The VFS heard the same published event; its release line is the proof.
+    const released = "vfs: released 1 handle(s) for dead client";
+    scheduler.setPriority(1);
+    deadline = architecture.millis() + 10000;
+    while (architecture.millis() < deadline) {
+        if (process.write_len >= released.len and eql(process.write_buffer[0..released.len], released)) break;
+        scheduler.yield();
+    }
+    scheduler.setPriority(4);
+    check("the VFS released the dead client's handle", process.write_len >= released.len and eql(process.write_buffer[0..released.len], released));
+    result();
+}
+
 /// The whole user-side surface at once: spawn process-test's supervisor role,
 /// which — entirely from ring 3 — creates an exit endpoint, spawns its two
 /// children supervised, sees them in process_enumerate, kills them (one blocked,
diff --git a/system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig b/system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig
index f30afd6..d76bad9 100644
--- a/system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig
+++ b/system/services/vfs/vfs-test.zig
@@ -6,10 +6,30 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const runtime = @import("runtime");
 
-pub fn main() void {
+pub fn main(init: runtime.process.Init) void {
     const u = @import("posix").unistd;
     const payload = "hello-vfs";
 
+    // The "park" role (the vfs-client-death test): open a file, then hold the
+    // handle forever without closing — the kill and the VFS's release-on-death
+    // are the point.
+    if (init.arguments.count > 1) {
+        var fd: i32 = -1;
+        var tries: u32 = 0;
+        while (fd < 0 and tries < 200) : (tries += 1) {
+            fd = u.open("parked", u.O_CREAT);
+            if (fd < 0) runtime.system.sleep(20);
+        }
+        if (fd < 0) {
+            _ = runtime.system.write("vfstest: park open failed\n");
+            return;
+        }
+        while (true) {
+            _ = runtime.system.write("vfstest: parked\n");
+            runtime.system.sleep(500);
+        }
+    }
+
     // The VFS server may not have registered yet — retry open until it's up.
     var fd: i32 = -1;
     var tries: u32 = 0;
diff --git a/system/services/vfs/vfs.zig b/system/services/vfs/vfs.zig
index df605e6..d40dd16 100644
--- a/system/services/vfs/vfs.zig
+++ b/system/services/vfs/vfs.zig
@@ -23,6 +23,10 @@ const Node = struct {
 const OpenFile = struct {
     used: bool = false,
     node: usize = 0,
+    // The client (task id — an IPC badge is one) that opened this handle. What
+    // release-on-death sweeps by: a service must never depend on its clients
+    // cleaning up after themselves (docs/process-lifecycle.md).
+    owner: u32 = 0,
 };
 
 var nodes = [_]Node{.{}} ** 8;
@@ -65,8 +69,29 @@ fn fail(out: []u8) usize {
     return writeReply(out, .{ .status = -1 }, &.{});
 }
 
-/// Handle one request; write the reply into `out`, return its length.
-fn handle(message: []const u8, out: []u8) usize {
+/// Format one whole log line and emit it in a single `debug_write`, so lines from
+/// concurrent processes can never land in the middle of it.
+fn writeLine(comptime fmt: []const u8, arguments: anytype) void {
+    var line: [96]u8 = undefined;
+    _ = runtime.system.write(std.fmt.bufPrint(&line, fmt, arguments) catch return);
+}
+
+/// Release every open handle `client` held — called on that client's published
+/// exit event. The nodes (the files) stay: ramfs contents outlive their writers,
+/// only the dead client's handles go.
+fn releaseClientHandles(client: u32) void {
+    var released: u32 = 0;
+    for (&opens) |*o| {
+        if (o.used and o.owner == client) {
+            o.used = false;
+            released += 1;
+        }
+    }
+    if (released != 0) writeLine("vfs: released {d} handle(s) for dead client {d}\n", .{ released, client });
+}
+
+/// Handle one request from `sender`; write the reply into `out`, return its length.
+fn handle(message: []const u8, out: []u8, sender: u32) usize {
     if (message.len < protocol.request_size) return fail(out);
     const request = std.mem.bytesToValue(protocol.Request, message[0..protocol.request_size]);
     const payload = message[protocol.request_size..];
@@ -77,7 +102,7 @@ fn handle(message: []const u8, out: []u8) usize {
             const ni = findNode(name) orelse createNode(name) orelse return fail(out);
             for (&opens, 0..) |*o, i| {
                 if (!o.used) {
-                    o.* = .{ .used = true, .node = ni };
+                    o.* = .{ .used = true, .node = ni, .owner = sender };
                     return writeReply(out, .{ .status = 0, .node = i }, &.{});
                 }
             }
@@ -122,6 +147,12 @@ pub fn main() void {
         _ = runtime.system.write("vfs: register failed\n");
         return;
     }
+    // First subscriber of the published exit events (docs/process-lifecycle.md):
+    // when a client dies holding open handles, the notification below is how the
+    // VFS learns to release them.
+    if (!runtime.process.subscribeExits(endpoint)) {
+        _ = runtime.system.write("vfs: exit subscription failed\n");
+    }
     _ = runtime.system.write("vfs: ready\n");
 
     var reply_buffer: [protocol.message_maximum]u8 = undefined;
@@ -129,8 +160,17 @@ pub fn main() void {
     var receive: [protocol.message_maximum]u8 = undefined;
     while (true) {
         const got = runtime.ipc.replyWait(endpoint, reply_buffer[0..reply_len], &receive, null);
-        // Ignore notifications (none expected here); handle a request.
-        reply_len = handle(receive[0..got.len], &reply_buffer);
+        if (got.isChildExit()) {
+            // A published exit event: a process died; drop whatever it held.
+            releaseClientHandles(got.childProcessId());
+            reply_len = 0;
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (got.isNotification()) {
+            reply_len = 0; // not a request; nothing owed
+            continue;
+        }
+        reply_len = handle(receive[0..got.len], &reply_buffer, got.senderTaskId());
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/test/qemu_test.py b/test/qemu_test.py
index da67797..f0b9e52 100644
--- a/test/qemu_test.py
+++ b/test/qemu_test.py
@@ -246,6 +246,12 @@ CASES = [
      "smp":    4,
      "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
      "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
+    # M17.3: published exit events — the VFS subscribes, a client dies holding an
+    # open handle, and the VFS releases it (process-lifecycle.md "Who learns of a death").
+    {"name": "vfs-client-death",
+     "smp":    4,
+     "expect": r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: PASS",
+     "fail":   r"DANOS-TEST-RESULT: FAIL"},
     # The initial_ramdisk: the loader ferries a bundle of user binaries; the kernel parses
     # it and spawns each as a ring-3 process (here the VFS-server stub heartbeats).
     {"name": "initial-ramdisk",