diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index 349acedd..5588dd0a 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 This file documents the revision history for the SNClient+ agent.
 
+next:
+         - drop privileges when running node exporter
+
 0.12     Tue Nov  7 23:52:33 CET 2023
          - add built-in check_http / check_tcp / check_dns
          - add check_omd check
diff --git a/packaging/snclient.ini b/packaging/snclient.ini
index 90406735..aea4a6fe 100644
--- a/packaging/snclient.ini
+++ b/packaging/snclient.ini
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ default module =
 ; agent max memory - set a memory limit for the agent (agent will be restarted if the rss is higher, set to 0 to disabled)
 ;agent max memory = 256M
 
+; agent user - set user this agent should run as (requires root permissions)
+;agent user = nobody
+
 ; port - Port to use for the node exporter.
 ;port = ${/settings/WEB/server/port}
 
@@ -161,6 +164,9 @@ agent address = 127.0.0.1:9990
 ; agent max memory - set a memory limit for the agent (agent will be restarted if the rss is higher, set to 0 to disabled)
 agent max memory = 256M
 
+; agent user - set user this agent should run as (requires root permissions)
+agent user = nobody
+
 ; port - Port to use for the node exporter.
 port = ${/settings/WEB/server/port}
 
diff --git a/pkg/snclient/listen_managedexporter.go b/pkg/snclient/listen_managedexporter.go
index 2c7c4631..85b131c3 100644
--- a/pkg/snclient/listen_managedexporter.go
+++ b/pkg/snclient/listen_managedexporter.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ type HandlerManagedExporter struct {
 	agentAddress   string
 	agentMaxMem    uint64
 	agentExtraArgs string
+	agentUser      string
 	cmd            *exec.Cmd
 	pid            int
 	snc            *Agent
@@ -127,6 +128,10 @@ func (l *HandlerManagedExporter) Init(snc *Agent, conf *ConfigSection, _ *Config
 		l.agentAddress = agentAddress
 	}
 
+	if agentUser, ok := conf.GetString("agent user"); ok {
+		l.agentUser = agentUser
+	}
+
 	uri, err := url.Parse("http://" + l.agentAddress + "/metrics")
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cannot parse agent url: %s", err.Error())
@@ -163,6 +168,16 @@ func (l *HandlerManagedExporter) procMainLoop() {
 			args = append(args, extra)
 		}
 		cmd := exec.Command(l.agentPath, args...) //nolint:gosec // input source is the config file
+
+		if l.agentUser != "" {
+			if err := setCmdUser(cmd, l.agentUser); err != nil {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("failed to drop privileges for %s agent: %s", l.Type(), err.Error())
+				log.Errorf("agent startup error: %s", err)
+
+				return
+			}
+		}
+
 		log.Debugf("starting %s agent: %s", l.Type(), cmd.Path)
 		l.snc.passthroughLogs("stdout", "["+l.Type()+"] ", log.Debugf, cmd.StdoutPipe)
 		l.snc.passthroughLogs("stderr", "["+l.Type()+"] ", l.logPass, cmd.StderrPipe)
diff --git a/pkg/snclient/listen_nodeexporter.go b/pkg/snclient/listen_nodeexporter.go
index 4f88bcb6..6970cbaf 100644
--- a/pkg/snclient/listen_nodeexporter.go
+++ b/pkg/snclient/listen_nodeexporter.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ func NewHandlerNodeExporter() Module {
 		name:           "nodeexporter",
 		urlPrefix:      "/node",
 		agentExtraArgs: "--web.listen-address=${agent address}",
+		agentUser:      "nobody",
 	}
 
 	return mod
diff --git a/pkg/snclient/snclient_unix.go b/pkg/snclient/snclient_unix.go
index eedf5704..9dd3962e 100644
--- a/pkg/snclient/snclient_unix.go
+++ b/pkg/snclient/snclient_unix.go
@@ -4,15 +4,18 @@ package snclient
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"os/signal"
+	"os/user"
 	"runtime"
 	"runtime/pprof"
 	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
+	"pkg/convert"
 	"pkg/utils"
 )
 
@@ -120,3 +123,28 @@ func makeCmd(ctx context.Context, command string) (*exec.Cmd, error) {
 
 	return cmd, nil
 }
+
+func setCmdUser(cmd *exec.Cmd, username string) error {
+	usr, err := user.Lookup(username)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("user.lookup: %s: %s", username, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if cmd.SysProcAttr == nil {
+		cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{}
+	}
+
+	uid, err := convert.Float64E(usr.Uid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot convert uid to number for user %s (uid:%s): %s", username, usr.Uid, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	gid, err := convert.Float64E(usr.Gid)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot convert gid to number for user %s (gid:%s): %s", username, usr.Gid, err.Error())
+	}
+
+	cmd.SysProcAttr.Credential = &syscall.Credential{Uid: uint32(uid), Gid: uint32(gid)}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/snclient/snclient_windows.go b/pkg/snclient/snclient_windows.go
index 58274fc3..febd295a 100644
--- a/pkg/snclient/snclient_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/snclient/snclient_windows.go
@@ -325,3 +325,7 @@ func QuotePathWithSpaces(path string) string {
 
 	return strings.Join(quotedComponents, `/`)
 }
+
+func setCmdUser(_ *exec.Cmd, _ string) error {
+	return fmt.Errorf("droping privileges is not supported on windows")
+}