diff --git a/src/chatgpt_subscription.py b/src/chatgpt_subscription.py
index d8e7f6201..d7e7afdae 100644
--- a/src/chatgpt_subscription.py
+++ b/src/chatgpt_subscription.py
@@ -258,6 +258,16 @@ def resolve_runtime_credentials(
     force_refresh: bool = False,
     allow_live_probes: bool = True,
 ) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    normalized_owner = None
+    if not allow_live_probes:
+        from src.owner_identity import is_request_sentinel_owner, normalize_owner
+
+        normalized_owner = normalize_owner(owner)
+        if normalized_owner is None or is_request_sentinel_owner(normalized_owner):
+            raise ChatGPTSubscriptionAuthNotFound(
+                "ChatGPT Subscription credentials require an authenticated owner."
+            )
+
     ProviderAuthSession, SessionLocal, utcnow_naive = _database_handles()
     db = SessionLocal()
     try:
@@ -265,7 +275,9 @@ def resolve_runtime_credentials(
             ProviderAuthSession.id == auth_id,
             ProviderAuthSession.provider == CHATGPT_SUBSCRIPTION_PROVIDER,
         )
-        if owner:
+        if not allow_live_probes:
+            q = q.filter(ProviderAuthSession.owner == normalized_owner)
+        elif owner:
             q = q.filter(ProviderAuthSession.owner == owner)
         row = q.first()
         if row is None:
diff --git a/tests/test_api_token_repair_cycle8.py b/tests/test_api_token_repair_cycle8.py
index 9801fab5c..194d2e9ef 100644
--- a/tests/test_api_token_repair_cycle8.py
+++ b/tests/test_api_token_repair_cycle8.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
-"""Cycle-8 regressions for bearer provider-auth session repair."""
+"""Cycle-8/9 regressions for bearer provider-auth session repair."""
 
+import base64
 import json
+import time
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 import pytest
@@ -14,7 +16,16 @@ import core.database as cdb
 _CODEX_BASE = "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/codex"
 
 
-def _provider_db(monkeypatch):
+def _future_access_token():
+    def encode(payload):
+        return base64.urlsafe_b64encode(
+            json.dumps(payload, separators=(",", ":")).encode()
+        ).rstrip(b"=").decode()
+
+    return f"{encode({'alg': 'none'})}.{encode({'exp': int(time.time()) + 3600})}.signature"
+
+
+def _provider_db(monkeypatch, *, access_token="cached-access-token"):
     from routes import chat_helpers
     from src import chatgpt_subscription
 
@@ -34,7 +45,7 @@ def _provider_db(monkeypatch):
         provider="chatgpt-subscription",
         owner="alice",
         base_url=_CODEX_BASE,
-        access_token="cached-access-token",
+        access_token=access_token,
         refresh_token="refresh-token",
         auth_mode="chatgpt",
     ))
@@ -92,3 +103,58 @@ def test_bearer_validator_rejects_provider_auth_when_cache_is_unusable(monkeypat
     with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as exc:
         _validate_bearer_session_model(_registered_session(), owner="alice")
     assert exc.value.status_code == 401
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "owner",
+    [None, "", "   ", "api", "demo", "system", "internal-tool", " API "],
+)
+def test_cache_only_provider_auth_rejects_missing_and_sentinel_owners_before_query(monkeypatch, owner):
+    from src import chatgpt_subscription
+
+    def forbidden_database_handles():
+        pytest.fail("cache-only provider auth queried without a real owner")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(chatgpt_subscription, "_database_handles", forbidden_database_handles)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        chatgpt_subscription,
+        "refresh_oauth_tokens",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: pytest.fail("cache-only provider auth refreshed credentials"),
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(chatgpt_subscription.ChatGPTSubscriptionAuthNotFound):
+        chatgpt_subscription.resolve_runtime_credentials(
+            "auth-1", owner=owner, allow_live_probes=False
+        )
+
+
+def test_cache_only_provider_auth_normalizes_exact_owner_and_blocks_live_io(monkeypatch):
+    from src import chatgpt_subscription
+
+    access_token = _future_access_token()
+    _provider_db(monkeypatch, access_token=access_token)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        chatgpt_subscription,
+        "refresh_oauth_tokens",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: pytest.fail("cache-only provider auth refreshed credentials"),
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        chatgpt_subscription.httpx,
+        "get",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: pytest.fail("cache-only provider auth probed the provider"),
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        chatgpt_subscription.httpx,
+        "post",
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: pytest.fail("cache-only provider auth probed the provider"),
+    )
+
+    result = chatgpt_subscription.resolve_runtime_credentials(
+        "auth-1", owner=" alice ", allow_live_probes=False
+    )
+    assert result["api_key"] == access_token
+
+    with pytest.raises(chatgpt_subscription.ChatGPTSubscriptionAuthNotFound):
+        chatgpt_subscription.resolve_runtime_credentials(
+            "auth-1", owner="bob", allow_live_probes=False
+        )