diff --git a/backend/app/auth.py b/backend/app/auth.py
index cdd8490..cb5b83e 100644
--- a/backend/app/auth.py
+++ b/backend/app/auth.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ 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 import delete, func, select, update
 from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 
 from app import email as email_mod
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ _DECOY_PASSWORD_HASH = hash_password(secrets.token_urlsafe(16))
 _register_limiter = RateLimiter(max_events=5, window_seconds=300)
 _login_limiter = RateLimiter(max_events=10, window_seconds=300)
 _reset_limiter = RateLimiter(max_events=5, window_seconds=300)
+_request_access_limiter = RateLimiter(max_events=5, window_seconds=300)
 # At most one "your account is suspended" email per address per hour, so a suspended user who
 # keeps retrying (or a script with their valid credentials) can't be used to mailbomb them.
 _suspend_email_limiter = RateLimiter(max_events=1, window_seconds=3600)
@@ -512,16 +513,26 @@ async def logout(request: Request):
 @router.post("/request-access")
 async def request_access(
     payload: dict,
+    request: Request,
     background: BackgroundTasks,
     db: Session = Depends(get_db),
 ) -> dict:
     """Public: ask for access. Idempotent — repeat requests for the same email don't
-    duplicate or re-spam admins (upsert returns None for an already-pending row)."""
+    duplicate or re-spam admins (upsert returns None for an already-pending row).
+
+    Answers a uniform ``"pending"`` for EVERY outcome — already-allowed, newly-pending,
+    already-pending, and rate-limited alike. The old ``"approved"`` reply for an allow-listed
+    address made this a public enumeration oracle for the allow-list (which the rest of the module
+    is careful to avoid, cf. demo_login); an already-allowed user can still just sign in with Google.
+    Rate-limited per client IP like register/login/reset, and a block returns "pending" too so the
+    endpoint can't be probed for throttling either."""
     email = (payload.get("email") or "").strip().lower()
     if not valid_email(email):
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Enter a valid email address.")
+    if not _request_access_limiter.allow(_client_ip(request)):
+        return {"status": "pending"}
     if is_allowed(db, email):
-        return {"status": "approved"}  # already allowed — just sign in
+        return {"status": "pending"}  # already allowed — don't reveal it
     inv = upsert_pending_invite(db, email)
     admins = admin_notify_emails(db)
     if inv is not None and admins:
@@ -583,18 +594,27 @@ def _issue_token(db: Session, user: User, kind: str, ttl: timedelta) -> str:
 
 
 def _consume_token(db: Session, raw: str | None, kind: str) -> User | None:
-    """Validate + burn a token. Returns its user, or None if missing/expired/used/wrong kind."""
+    """Validate + burn a token atomically. Returns its user, or None if missing/expired/used/wrong
+    kind. The burn is a single conditional UPDATE (…WHERE used_at IS NULL…RETURNING) rather than a
+    read-check-write, so two concurrent requests can't both consume the same verify/reset token —
+    only the one whose UPDATE flips used_at gets a row back."""
     if not raw:
         return None
+    now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
     row = db.execute(
-        select(AuthToken).where(
-            AuthToken.token_hash == hash_token(raw), AuthToken.kind == kind
+        update(AuthToken)
+        .where(
+            AuthToken.token_hash == hash_token(raw),
+            AuthToken.kind == kind,
+            AuthToken.used_at.is_(None),
+            AuthToken.expires_at >= now,
         )
-    ).scalar_one_or_none()
-    if row is None or row.used_at is not None or row.expires_at < datetime.now(timezone.utc):
-        return None
-    row.used_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+        .values(used_at=now)
+        .returning(AuthToken.user_id)
+    ).first()
     db.commit()
+    if row is None:
+        return None
     return db.get(User, row.user_id)