diff --git a/src/lib/rate-limit-ip.test.ts b/src/lib/rate-limit-ip.test.ts
index 85f94f3..88fd4b8 100644
--- a/src/lib/rate-limit-ip.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/rate-limit-ip.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
-import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import { rateLimitSubject, resolveClientIp } from "./rate-limit";
 
 const h = (values: Record<string, string>) => new Headers(values);
 
+afterEach(() => {
+  vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+});
+
 describe("resolveClientIp (Client-IP hinter Cloudflare und Traefik)", () => {
   it("nimmt den letzten X-Forwarded-For-Eintrag, nie einen vom Client gesetzten", () => {
     expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-forwarded-for": "1.2.3.4, 198.51.100.9" }))).toBe("198.51.100.9");
@@ -18,10 +22,38 @@ describe("resolveClientIp (Client-IP hinter Cloudflare und Traefik)", () => {
     expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-forwarded-for": "198.51.100.9", "cf-connecting-ip": "203.0.113.7" }))).toBe("198.51.100.9");
   });
 
-  it("fällt ohne X-Forwarded-For auf X-Real-IP zurück, sonst „unknown“", () => {
+  it("fällt ohne X-Forwarded-For außerhalb von Produktion auf X-Real-IP zurück, sonst „unknown“", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", "development");
     expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-real-ip": "198.51.100.9" }))).toBe("198.51.100.9");
     expect(resolveClientIp(h({}))).toBe("unknown");
   });
+
+  it("ignoriert X-Real-IP in Produktion, wenn X-Forwarded-For fehlt", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("NODE_ENV", "production");
+    expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-real-ip": "198.51.100.9" }))).toBe("unknown");
+    expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-forwarded-for": "198.51.100.9", "x-real-ip": "203.0.113.1" }))).toBe("198.51.100.9");
+  });
+
+  describe("CF-Connecting-IP nur als öffentliche Unicast-Adresse", () => {
+    const edge = "172.70.1.2";
+    const nonPublic = [
+      "0.0.0.0", "0.1.2.3", "10.0.0.1", "100.64.0.1", "100.127.255.255", "127.0.0.1", "169.254.1.1",
+      "172.16.0.1", "172.31.255.255", "192.168.1.1", "240.0.0.1", "255.255.255.255",
+      "::", "::1", "fc00::1", "fd12:3456::1", "fe80::1", "febf::1",
+      "::ffff:10.0.0.1", "::ffff:127.0.0.1", "::ffff:192.168.1.1", "::ffff:240.0.0.1", "::ffff:0.0.0.0",
+    ];
+
+    it.each(nonPublic)("verwirft %s und nutzt die Cloudflare-Edge als Gegenstelle", (ip) => {
+      expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-forwarded-for": edge, "cf-connecting-ip": ip }))).toBe(edge);
+    });
+
+    it.each(["203.0.113.7", "100.63.255.255", "172.32.0.1", "239.1.1.1", "2001:db8::5", "::ffff:203.0.113.7"])(
+      "akzeptiert öffentliche Adresse %s",
+      (ip) => {
+        expect(resolveClientIp(h({ "x-forwarded-for": edge, "cf-connecting-ip": ip }))).toBe(ip);
+      },
+    );
+  });
 });
 
 describe("rateLimitSubject (IPv6 je /64)", () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/rate-limit.ts b/src/lib/rate-limit.ts
index 4b9ecb1..360d6a0 100644
--- a/src/lib/rate-limit.ts
+++ b/src/lib/rate-limit.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,24 @@ for (const [cidrs, family] of [[CLOUDFLARE_V4, "ipv4"], [CLOUDFLARE_V6, "ipv6"]]
   }
 }
 
+/** Nicht oeffentlich routbare Bereiche; CF-Connecting-IP daraus waere nie ein echter Client (u.a. Cloudflare "Pseudo IPv4" 240/4). */
+const NON_PUBLIC_V4 = ["0.0.0.0/8", "10.0.0.0/8", "100.64.0.0/10", "127.0.0.0/8", "169.254.0.0/16", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16", "240.0.0.0/4"];
+const NON_PUBLIC_V6 = ["::/128", "::1/128", "fc00::/7", "fe80::/10"];
+const nonPublic = new BlockList();
+for (const [cidrs, family] of [[NON_PUBLIC_V4, "ipv4"], [NON_PUBLIC_V6, "ipv6"]] as const) {
+  for (const cidr of cidrs) {
+    const [net = "", prefix = ""] = cidr.split("/");
+    nonPublic.addSubnet(net, Number(prefix), family);
+  }
+}
+
+/** True nur fuer oeffentliche Unicast-Adressen; IPv4-gemappte IPv6 wird wie die IPv4-Adresse geprueft. */
+function isPublicUnicast(ip: string): boolean {
+  const subject = rateLimitSubject(ip); // entpackt ::ffff:a.b.c.d zu a.b.c.d
+  if (isIP(subject) === 4) return subject !== "255.255.255.255" && !nonPublic.check(subject, "ipv4");
+  return !nonPublic.check(ip, "ipv6");
+}
+
 function validIp(value: string | null | undefined): string | null {
   const ip = value?.trim();
   return ip && isIP(ip) ? ip : null;
@@ -109,8 +127,11 @@ function validIp(value: string | null | undefined): string | null {
  */
 export function resolveClientIp(list: Headers): string {
   const forwarded = list.get("x-forwarded-for");
-  const peer = forwarded === null ? validIp(list.get("x-real-ip")) : validIp(forwarded.split(",").at(-1));
+  // x-real-ip ist nur ausserhalb von Produktion ein Fallback; in Produktion setzt Traefik immer x-forwarded-for.
+  const fallback = process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? null : validIp(list.get("x-real-ip"));
+  const peer = forwarded === null ? fallback : validIp(forwarded.split(",").at(-1));
   if (!peer) return "unknown";
-  const viaCloudflare = validIp(list.get("cf-connecting-ip"));
+  const candidate = validIp(list.get("cf-connecting-ip"));
+  const viaCloudflare = candidate && isPublicUnicast(candidate) ? candidate : null;
   return viaCloudflare && cloudflare.check(peer, isIP(peer) === 6 ? "ipv6" : "ipv4") ? viaCloudflare : peer;
 }