diff --git a/backend/app/auth.py b/backend/app/auth.py
index 5874b65..a63afa6 100644
--- a/backend/app/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/auth.py
@@ -7,13 +7,14 @@ import httpx
 from authlib.integrations.starlette_client import OAuth, OAuthError
 from fastapi import APIRouter, BackgroundTasks, Depends, HTTPException, Request
 from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse, RedirectResponse
+from starlette.requests import HTTPConnection
 from sqlalchemy import delete, func, select
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 
 from app import email as email_mod
 from app import sysconfig
 from app.config import settings
-from app.db import get_db
+from app.db import SessionLocal, get_db
 from app.models import AuthToken, DemoWhitelist, Invite, OAuthToken, User
 from app.ratelimit import RateLimiter
 from app.security import decrypt, encrypt, hash_password, hash_token, verify_password
@@ -596,11 +597,24 @@ def register(
     if not _register_limiter.allow(_client_ip(request)):
         return {"status": "ok"}  # silently throttle; uniform response
 
-    existing = db.execute(select(User).where(User.email == email)).scalar_one_or_none()
-    if existing is None:
-        # Without working SMTP we can't deliver a verification link, so email ownership can't
-        # gate sign-in. Admin approval stays the real gate (is_active=False); mark the account
-        # verified so the flow still completes on a no-SMTP self-host. See email.email_enabled().
+    # Do the existence check + account creation OFF the response path (a background task with its own
+    # session). The create path hashes the password + writes several rows + schedules emails; doing it
+    # inline would make a NEW email respond measurably slower than an already-registered one (which
+    # skips all that) — a timing oracle for enumeration. Off-path, any valid email responds the same.
+    background.add_task(_register_account, email, password)
+    return {"status": "ok"}
+
+
+def _register_account(email: str, password: str) -> None:
+    """Background worker for /register: create the pending account (+ verification email + admin
+    notice) for a genuinely new email; no-op for an already-registered one. Runs after the response
+    with its own DB session, so the request's timing never reveals whether the email already exists."""
+    with SessionLocal() as db:
+        if db.execute(select(User).where(User.email == email)).scalar_one_or_none() is not None:
+            return  # already registered — nothing to do (the uniform "ok" was already returned)
+        # Without working SMTP we can't deliver a verification link, so email ownership can't gate
+        # sign-in. Admin approval stays the real gate (is_active=False); mark the account verified so
+        # the flow still completes on a no-SMTP self-host. See email.email_enabled().
         email_ok = email_mod.email_enabled()
         user = User(
             email=email,
@@ -610,20 +624,13 @@ def register(
         )
         db.add(user)
         db.flush()
-        upsert_pending_invite(db, email)  # admin-approval gate
+        upsert_pending_invite(db, email)  # admin-approval gate (commits)
         if email_ok:
             raw = _issue_token(db, user, "verify", VERIFY_TTL)
-            # Fragment (#), not a query token: keeps the token out of proxy/access logs + Referer.
-            # The SPA reads the fragment and POSTs it to /auth/verify (SB3).
-            background.add_task(
-                email_mod.send_verify_email, email, f"{_app_base()}/#verify={raw}"
-            )
+            # Fragment (#), not a query token: keeps the token out of proxy/access logs + Referer (SB3).
+            email_mod.send_verify_email(email, f"{_app_base()}/#verify={raw}")
         if settings.admin_email_set:
-            background.add_task(
-                email_mod.send_admin_new_request, sorted(settings.admin_email_set), email
-            )
-    # Existing email → do nothing visible (no enumeration). Uniform success either way.
-    return {"status": "ok"}
+            email_mod.send_admin_new_request(sorted(settings.admin_email_set), email)
 
 
 @router.post("/verify")
@@ -692,21 +699,30 @@ def password_reset_request(
     payload: dict,
     request: Request,
     background: BackgroundTasks,
-    db: Session = Depends(get_db),
 ) -> dict:
-    """Request a password-reset link. Uniform response regardless of whether the email has a
-    password account, so it can't probe for registered emails."""
+    """Request a password-reset link. Uniform response + timing regardless of whether the email has a
+    password account (the lookup runs off the response path), so it can't probe for registered emails."""
     if not _reset_limiter.allow(_client_ip(request)):
         return {"status": "ok"}
     email = (payload.get("email") or "").strip().lower()
+    # Do the account lookup + token issue + email OFF the response path (a background task with its
+    # own session), so the endpoint takes the same time for any valid email whether or not it has a
+    # password account — no timing-based enumeration. Any valid email schedules the same task.
     if valid_email(email):
+        background.add_task(_send_reset_if_eligible, email)
+    return {"status": "ok"}
+
+
+def _send_reset_if_eligible(email: str) -> None:
+    """Background worker for password_reset_request: issue a reset token + email the link, but ONLY
+    for a real (non-demo) password account. Runs after the response with its own DB session, so the
+    request's timing never reveals whether the account exists. Token rides the URL FRAGMENT (#) so it
+    can't leak into proxy/access logs or a Referer (SB3)."""
+    with SessionLocal() as db:
         user = db.execute(select(User).where(User.email == email)).scalar_one_or_none()
         if user is not None and user.password_hash and not user.is_demo:
             raw = _issue_token(db, user, "reset", RESET_TTL)
-            # Token in the URL FRAGMENT (#), not the query (?): a fragment is never sent to the
-            # server, so it can't leak into proxy/access logs or a Referer header (SB3).
-            background.add_task(email_mod.send_password_reset, email, f"{_app_base()}/#reset={raw}")
-    return {"status": "ok"}
+            email_mod.send_password_reset(email, f"{_app_base()}/#reset={raw}")
 
 
 @router.post("/password-reset/confirm")
@@ -741,21 +757,22 @@ def password_reset_confirm(payload: dict, db: Session = Depends(get_db)) -> dict
 ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER = "x-siftlode-account"
 
 
-def resolved_user_id(request: Request) -> tuple[int | None, bool]:
-    """Which account this request acts as, and whether that's the session's default account.
+def resolved_user_id(conn: HTTPConnection) -> tuple[int | None, bool]:
+    """Which account this connection acts as, and whether that's the session's default account.
+    Takes any HTTPConnection — an HTTP Request OR a WebSocket — so the WS push channel shares this
+    exact per-tab resolution instead of re-implementing it.
 
     The signed cookie holds the *wallet* (`account_ids`, every account signed into this browser)
-    plus a default `user_id`. A request may override the default with the X-Siftlode-Account
-    header, but ONLY for an account already in the wallet — so a tab can't impersonate an account
-    that never authenticated here. Everything else (WebSocket, plain navigations) keeps using the
-    cookie default.
+    plus a default `user_id`. A caller may override the default with the X-Siftlode-Account header,
+    but ONLY for an account already in the wallet — so a tab can't impersonate an account that never
+    authenticated here. Everything else (WebSocket, plain navigations) keeps using the cookie default.
     """
-    default_id = request.session.get("user_id")
-    wallet = request.session.get("account_ids") or []
+    default_id = conn.session.get("user_id")
+    wallet = conn.session.get("account_ids") or []
     # Header for normal XHR; ?account= for contexts that can't set headers (WebSocket, and a
     # plain <a> file download). Both are wallet-gated below, so neither can impersonate an
     # account that never signed into this browser.
-    hdr = request.headers.get(ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER) or request.query_params.get("account")
+    hdr = conn.headers.get(ACTIVE_ACCOUNT_HEADER) or conn.query_params.get("account")
     if hdr:
         try:
             hid = int(hdr)
diff --git a/backend/app/routes/messages.py b/backend/app/routes/messages.py
index 420bd58..6089550 100644
--- a/backend/app/routes/messages.py
+++ b/backend/app/routes/messages.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from pydantic import BaseModel
 from sqlalchemy import and_, func, or_, select
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 
-from app.auth import require_human
+from app.auth import require_human, resolved_user_id
 from app.db import SessionLocal, get_db
 from app.models import Message, MessageKey, User
 from app.ratelimit import RateLimiter
@@ -363,19 +363,10 @@ async def messages_ws(ws: WebSocket) -> None:
     """Live push channel: authenticated by the session cookie, registers the connection so
     sent messages reach this user's open tabs instantly. We don't consume client→server frames
     (sending goes through POST /api/messages); the receive loop only detects disconnect."""
-    # A browser WebSocket can't send custom headers, so the per-tab account (see
-    # X-Siftlode-Account on HTTP) rides in the ?account= query param instead — honoured only for
-    # an account already in this browser's wallet. Falls back to the session default.
-    sess = ws.session if "session" in ws.scope else {}
-    uid = sess.get("user_id")
-    q = ws.query_params.get("account")
-    if q:
-        try:
-            qid = int(q)
-        except ValueError:
-            qid = None
-        if qid is not None and qid in (sess.get("account_ids") or []):
-            uid = qid
+    # Which signed-in account this socket acts as — the SHARED per-tab resolution (wallet-gated
+    # ?account= override, session default otherwise). A browser WebSocket can't send the
+    # X-Siftlode-Account header, so resolved_user_id falls through to the ?account= query param.
+    uid, _ = resolved_user_id(ws)
     if not uid:
         await ws.close(code=1008)
         return
@@ -385,7 +376,7 @@ async def messages_ws(ws: WebSocket) -> None:
         # SA4: honour server-side session revocation on the live channel too — reject a cookie whose
         # recorded epoch is behind the account's current one (mirrors current_user). Without this a
         # copied cookie could keep receiving pushes after a password reset / "log out everywhere".
-        epochs = sess.get("epochs") or {}
+        epochs = ws.session.get("epochs") or {}
         epoch_ok = user is not None and int(epochs.get(str(uid), 0)) == (user.session_epoch or 0)
         ok = epoch_ok and is_messageable_user(user)
     finally: