diff --git a/hw/cxl/cxl-mailbox-utils.c b/hw/cxl/cxl-mailbox-utils.c
index cf1d048d99..9b99d44a80 100644
--- a/hw/cxl/cxl-mailbox-utils.c
+++ b/hw/cxl/cxl-mailbox-utils.c
@@ -2011,7 +2011,7 @@ static CXLRetCode media_operations_discovery(uint8_t *payload_in,
      * sub class command.
      */
     if (media_op_in_disc_pl->dpa_range_count ||
-        start_index > ARRAY_SIZE(media_op_matrix)) {
+        start_index + num_ops > ARRAY_SIZE(media_op_matrix)) {
         return CXL_MBOX_INVALID_INPUT;
     }