diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
index 6873f8e93c..d5c820930a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.cpp
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ void CaptivePortal::start() {
 
   this->initialized_ = true;
   this->active_ = true;
-  ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Captive portal started");
+  ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Captive portal started");
 }
 
 void CaptivePortal::handleRequest(AsyncWebServerRequest *req) {
diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
index 705af8ab45..f3d40ecae8 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/captive_portal.h
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ class CaptivePortal : public AsyncWebHandler, public Component {
   }
 
   bool canHandle(AsyncWebServerRequest *request) const override {
+    // Handle all GET requests when captive portal is active
+    // This allows us to respond with the portal page for any URL,
+    // triggering OS captive portal detection
     return this->active_ && request->method() == HTTP_GET;
   }
 
diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
index a32e268f20..503990637a 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.cpp
@@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ struct DNSAnswer {
   uint32_t ip_addr;
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
-DNSServer::~DNSServer() { this->stop(); }
-
 void DNSServer::start(const network::IPAddress &ip) {
   this->server_ip_ = ip;
   ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Starting DNS server on %s", ip.str().c_str());
@@ -103,7 +101,7 @@ void DNSServer::stop() {
     this->dns_socket_ = -1;
   }
 
-  ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Stopped");
+  ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Stopped");
 }
 
 void DNSServer::dns_server_task(void *pvParameters) {
@@ -126,11 +124,10 @@ void DNSServer::dns_server_task(void *pvParameters) {
 void DNSServer::process_dns_request(int sock) {
   struct sockaddr_in client_addr;
   socklen_t client_addr_len = sizeof(client_addr);
-  uint8_t rx_buffer[DNS_MAX_LEN];
-  uint8_t tx_buffer[DNS_MAX_LEN];
+  uint8_t buffer[DNS_MAX_LEN];
 
   // Receive DNS request
-  int len = recvfrom(sock, rx_buffer, sizeof(rx_buffer), 0, (struct sockaddr *) &client_addr, &client_addr_len);
+  int len = recvfrom(sock, buffer, sizeof(buffer), 0, (struct sockaddr *) &client_addr, &client_addr_len);
 
   if (len < 0) {
     if (errno != EAGAIN && errno != EWOULDBLOCK && errno != EINTR) {
@@ -147,7 +144,7 @@ void DNSServer::process_dns_request(int sock) {
   }
 
   // Parse DNS header
-  DNSHeader *header = (DNSHeader *) rx_buffer;
+  DNSHeader *header = (DNSHeader *) buffer;
   uint16_t flags = ntohs(header->flags);
   uint16_t qd_count = ntohs(header->qd_count);
 
@@ -158,22 +155,29 @@ void DNSServer::process_dns_request(int sock) {
   }
 
   // Parse domain name (we don't actually care about it - redirect everything)
-  uint8_t *ptr = rx_buffer + sizeof(DNSHeader);
-  uint8_t *name_start = ptr;
-  while (*ptr != 0 && ptr < (rx_buffer + len)) {
-    if (*ptr > 63) {  // Check for invalid label length
+  uint8_t *ptr = buffer + sizeof(DNSHeader);
+  uint8_t *end = buffer + len;
+
+  while (ptr < end && *ptr != 0) {
+    uint8_t label_len = *ptr;
+    if (label_len > 63) {  // Check for invalid label length
       return;
     }
-    ptr += *ptr + 1;
+    // Check if we have room for this label plus the length byte
+    if (ptr + label_len + 1 > end) {
+      return;  // Would overflow
+    }
+    ptr += label_len + 1;
   }
 
-  if (*ptr != 0) {
-    return;  // Name not terminated
+  // Check if we reached a proper null terminator
+  if (ptr >= end || *ptr != 0) {
+    return;  // Name not terminated or truncated
   }
   ptr++;  // Skip the null terminator
 
   // Check we have room for the question
-  if (ptr + sizeof(DNSQuestion) > rx_buffer + len) {
+  if (ptr + sizeof(DNSQuestion) > end) {
     return;  // Request truncated
   }
 
@@ -188,22 +192,21 @@ void DNSServer::process_dns_request(int sock) {
     return;  // Not an A query
   }
 
-  // Build DNS response
-  memset(tx_buffer, 0, sizeof(tx_buffer));
+  // Build DNS response by modifying the request in-place
+  header->flags = htons(DNS_QR_FLAG | 0x8000);  // Response + Authoritative
+  header->an_count = htons(1);                  // One answer
 
-  // Copy request header and modify flags
-  memcpy(tx_buffer, rx_buffer, sizeof(DNSHeader));
-  DNSHeader *response_header = (DNSHeader *) tx_buffer;
-  response_header->flags = htons(DNS_QR_FLAG | 0x8000);  // Response + Authoritative
-  response_header->an_count = htons(1);                  // One answer
-
-  // Copy the question section
-  size_t question_len = (ptr + sizeof(DNSQuestion)) - rx_buffer - sizeof(DNSHeader);
-  memcpy(tx_buffer + sizeof(DNSHeader), rx_buffer + sizeof(DNSHeader), question_len);
-
-  // Add answer section
+  // Add answer section after the question
+  size_t question_len = (ptr + sizeof(DNSQuestion)) - buffer - sizeof(DNSHeader);
   size_t answer_offset = sizeof(DNSHeader) + question_len;
-  DNSAnswer *answer = (DNSAnswer *) (tx_buffer + answer_offset);
+
+  // Check if we have room for the answer
+  if (answer_offset + sizeof(DNSAnswer) > sizeof(buffer)) {
+    ESP_LOGW(TAG, "Response too large");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  DNSAnswer *answer = (DNSAnswer *) (buffer + answer_offset);
 
   // Pointer to name in question (offset from start of packet)
   answer->ptr_offset = htons(0xC000 | sizeof(DNSHeader));
@@ -219,7 +222,7 @@ void DNSServer::process_dns_request(int sock) {
   size_t response_len = answer_offset + sizeof(DNSAnswer);
 
   // Send response
-  int sent = sendto(sock, tx_buffer, response_len, 0, (struct sockaddr *) &client_addr, client_addr_len);
+  int sent = sendto(sock, buffer, response_len, 0, (struct sockaddr *) &client_addr, client_addr_len);
   if (sent < 0) {
     ESP_LOGV(TAG, "Send failed: %d", errno);
   } else {
diff --git a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.h b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.h
index 7cbf4490ed..87b5c76e44 100644
--- a/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.h
+++ b/esphome/components/captive_portal/dns_server_esp32_idf.h
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ namespace esphome::captive_portal {
 
 class DNSServer {
  public:
-  ~DNSServer();
-
   void start(const network::IPAddress &ip);
   void stop();