Systems and methods are provided for a battery management system (BMS) having a protection circuit. In one example, a vehicle battery system may include the BMS, the BMS including a cutoff circuit coupled to a short-circuit protection circuit, and a battery pack, wherein the short-circuit protection circuit may include a diode array, cathodes of the diode array being coupled to a positive terminal post of the battery pack and anodes of the diode array being coupled to a negative terminal post of the battery pack. In some examples, the cutoff circuit may further be coupled to a reverse bias protection circuit including a switchable current path arranged between a control input of the cutoff circuit and an output of the cutoff circuit. In this way, the vehicle battery system may be protected from unexpected voltage conditions via the BMS redirecting and dissipating excess current away from the cutoff circuit.