diff --git a/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts b/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
index 9c047833ef..359b0607ba 100644
--- a/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-express/adapters/express-adapter.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import {
   BadRequestException,
+  HttpException,
   HttpStatus,
   InternalServerErrorException,
   Logger,
@@ -675,6 +676,20 @@ export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter<
       // encoding, e.g. '%FF' (#8915)
       case error instanceof SyntaxError || error instanceof URIError:
         return new BadRequestException(error.message);
+      // http-errors (used by body-parser, Express itself, etc.) carry a numeric statusCode
+      // and an expose flag. Without this case, errors like PayloadTooLargeError reach custom
+      // exception filters as a raw http-errors instance rather than an HttpException, so a
+      // @Catch(HttpException) filter never runs and a catch-all filter reports 500 (#18213).
+      case isHttpError(error):
+        return new HttpException(
+          // An error that must not reach the client only gets a status text,
+          // like the built-in exception filter answers it
+          error.expose === false
+            ? (http.STATUS_CODES[error.statusCode] ?? 'Internal server error')
+            : error.message,
+          error.statusCode,
+          { cause: error },
+        );
       default:
         return error;
     }
@@ -734,3 +749,19 @@ export class ExpressAdapter extends AbstractHttpAdapter<
     this.setHeaderIfNotExists(response, 'Content-Length', headers.length);
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Returns true when `err` is an "http-errors"-shaped error (body-parser, Express, etc.).
+ * Mirrors the same check in BaseExceptionFilter.isHttpError().
+ */
+function isHttpError(
+  err: unknown,
+): err is { statusCode: number; message: string; expose: boolean } {
+  return (
+    isObject(err) &&
+    err instanceof Error &&
+    typeof (err as any).expose === 'boolean' &&
+    typeof (err as any).statusCode === 'number' &&
+    (err as any).status === (err as any).statusCode
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/platform-express/test/adapters/express-adapter.spec.ts b/packages/platform-express/test/adapters/express-adapter.spec.ts
index 8b5e7d68ab..4bdc24e9b0 100644
--- a/packages/platform-express/test/adapters/express-adapter.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/platform-express/test/adapters/express-adapter.spec.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 import {
   BadRequestException,
+  HttpException,
   RequestMethod,
   StreamableFile,
   UnauthorizedException,
 } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { ExpressAdapter } from '@nestjs/platform-express';
 import express from 'express';
+import createHttpError from 'http-errors';
 import { PassThrough, Readable, Writable } from 'stream';
 
 describe('ExpressAdapter', () => {
@@ -528,5 +530,27 @@ describe('ExpressAdapter', () => {
       const result = expressAdapter.mapException(error);
       expect(result).toBe(error);
     });
+
+    it('should map an http-errors error to an HttpException with its status', () => {
+      const error = createHttpError(413, 'request entity too large');
+      const result = expressAdapter.mapException(error) as HttpException;
+      expect(result).toBeInstanceOf(HttpException);
+      expect(result.getStatus()).toBe(413);
+      expect(result.getResponse()).toBe('request entity too large');
+      expect(result.cause).toBe(error);
+    });
+
+    it.each([
+      [500, 'Internal Server Error'],
+      [599, 'Internal server error'],
+    ])(
+      'should not expose the message of an http-errors error with status %i',
+      (status, message) => {
+        const error = createHttpError(status, 'internal detail');
+        const result = expressAdapter.mapException(error) as HttpException;
+        expect(result.getStatus()).toBe(status);
+        expect(result.getResponse()).toBe(message);
+      },
+    );
   });
 });