diff --git a/prdoc/pr_5998.prdoc b/prdoc/pr_5998.prdoc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e3279051ca6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prdoc/pr_5998.prdoc
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Schema: Polkadot SDK PRDoc Schema (prdoc) v1.0.0
+# See doc at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk/master/prdoc/schema_user.json
+
+title: Fix memory leak in litep2p public addresses
+
+doc:
+  - audience: [ Node Dev, Node Operator ]
+    description: |
+     This PR bounds the number of public addresses of litep2p to 32 entries.
+     This ensures we do not increase the number of addresses over time, and that the DHT
+     authority records will not exceed the upper size limit.
+
+crates:
+  - name: sc-network
+    bump: patch
diff --git a/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/discovery.rs b/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/discovery.rs
index 5fe944cadc0b..13cf8a4c6ee0 100644
--- a/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/discovery.rs
+++ b/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/discovery.rs
@@ -116,7 +116,16 @@ pub enum DiscoveryEvent {
 
 	/// New external address discovered.
 	ExternalAddressDiscovered {
-		/// Discovered addresses.
+		/// Discovered address.
+		address: Multiaddr,
+	},
+
+	/// The external address has expired.
+	///
+	/// This happens when the internal buffers exceed the maximum number of external addresses,
+	/// and this address is the oldest one.
+	ExternalAddressExpired {
+		/// Expired address.
 		address: Multiaddr,
 	},
 
@@ -423,7 +432,13 @@ impl Discovery {
 	}
 
 	/// Check if `address` can be considered a new external address.
-	fn is_new_external_address(&mut self, address: &Multiaddr, peer: PeerId) -> bool {
+	///
+	/// If this address replaces an older address, the expired address is returned.
+	fn is_new_external_address(
+		&mut self,
+		address: &Multiaddr,
+		peer: PeerId,
+	) -> (bool, Option<Multiaddr>) {
 		log::trace!(target: LOG_TARGET, "verify new external address: {address}");
 
 		// is the address one of our known addresses
@@ -434,7 +449,7 @@ impl Discovery {
 			.chain(self.public_addresses.iter())
 			.any(|known_address| Discovery::is_known_address(&known_address, &address))
 		{
-			return true
+			return (true, None)
 		}
 
 		match self.address_confirmations.get(address) {
@@ -442,15 +457,31 @@ impl Discovery {
 				confirmations.insert(peer);
 
 				if confirmations.len() >= MIN_ADDRESS_CONFIRMATIONS {
-					return true
+					return (true, None)
 				}
 			},
 			None => {
+				let oldest = (self.address_confirmations.len() >=
+					self.address_confirmations.limiter().max_length() as usize)
+					.then(|| {
+						self.address_confirmations.pop_oldest().map(|(address, peers)| {
+							if peers.len() >= MIN_ADDRESS_CONFIRMATIONS {
+								return Some(address)
+							} else {
+								None
+							}
+						})
+					})
+					.flatten()
+					.flatten();
+
 				self.address_confirmations.insert(address.clone(), Default::default());
+
+				return (false, oldest)
 			},
 		}
 
-		false
+		(false, None)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -557,7 +588,21 @@ impl Stream for Discovery {
 				observed_address,
 				..
 			})) => {
-				if this.is_new_external_address(&observed_address, peer) {
+				let (is_new, expired_address) =
+					this.is_new_external_address(&observed_address, peer);
+
+				if let Some(expired_address) = expired_address {
+					log::trace!(
+						target: LOG_TARGET,
+						"Removing expired external address expired={expired_address} is_new={is_new} observed={observed_address}",
+					);
+
+					this.pending_events.push_back(DiscoveryEvent::ExternalAddressExpired {
+						address: expired_address,
+					});
+				}
+
+				if is_new {
 					this.pending_events.push_back(DiscoveryEvent::ExternalAddressDiscovered {
 						address: observed_address.clone(),
 					});
diff --git a/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/mod.rs b/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/mod.rs
index 277f0759729c..df4244890f96 100644
--- a/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/mod.rs
+++ b/substrate/client/network/src/litep2p/mod.rs
@@ -935,6 +935,25 @@ impl<B: BlockT + 'static, H: ExHashT> NetworkBackend<B, H> for Litep2pNetworkBac
 							},
 						}
 					}
+					Some(DiscoveryEvent::ExternalAddressExpired{ address }) => {
+						let local_peer_id = self.litep2p.local_peer_id();
+
+						// Litep2p requires the peer ID to be present in the address.
+						let address = if !std::matches!(address.iter().last(), Some(Protocol::P2p(_))) {
+							address.with(Protocol::P2p(*local_peer_id.as_ref()))
+						} else {
+							address
+						};
+
+						if self.litep2p.public_addresses().remove_address(&address) {
+							log::info!(target: LOG_TARGET, "🔍 Expired external address for our node: {address}");
+						} else {
+							log::warn!(
+								target: LOG_TARGET,
+								"🔍 Failed to remove expired external address {address:?}"
+							);
+						}
+					}
 					Some(DiscoveryEvent::Ping { peer, rtt }) => {
 						log::trace!(
 							target: LOG_TARGET,