diff --git a/litellm/proxy/route_llm_request.py b/litellm/proxy/route_llm_request.py
index b9784de5bee..bae8049987c 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/route_llm_request.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/route_llm_request.py
@@ -262,9 +262,21 @@ async def _canonical_target_is_allowed(
     A denial returns False rather than raising, so the request falls through to
     the same 400 an unresolvable model gets today and the response reveals
     nothing about the target's existence.
+
+    Absent key context fails CLOSED. Most ``route_request`` callers (image
+    generation, rerank, moderation, speech, transcription, realtime, Responses
+    WebSocket) are authenticated but do not currently forward
+    ``user_api_key_dict``, so treating "no key context" as "allowed" would run
+    the rewrite with no target authorization at all on exactly those paths.
+    Declining instead costs those endpoints only the convenience rewrite --
+    they behave as they do today, resolution simply never engages -- while
+    keeping the AND-on-target guarantee unconditional. Threading the key
+    through those call sites is the follow-up that re-enables resolution for
+    them; until then this must not be the hole through which the check is
+    skipped.
     """
     if user_api_key_dict is None:
-        return True
+        return False
     from litellm.proxy.auth.auth_checks import (
         can_key_call_resolved_model,  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownVariableType] - auth_checks is partially typed
     )
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/router_utils/test_router_canonical_model_resolution.py b/tests/test_litellm/router_utils/test_router_canonical_model_resolution.py
index 8953e949b67..7be77dc73d9 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/router_utils/test_router_canonical_model_resolution.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/router_utils/test_router_canonical_model_resolution.py
@@ -509,9 +509,17 @@ class TestCanonicalTargetReAuth:
         assert allowed is False
 
     @pytest.mark.asyncio
-    async def test_no_auth_context_is_allowed(self, anthropic_router: Router):
-        """No key context (non-proxy Router use) leaves the rewrite unguarded by
-        key auth, matching the surrounding call path."""
+    async def test_absent_auth_context_fails_closed(self, anthropic_router: Router):
+        """Regression: absent key context must DECLINE the rewrite, not allow it.
+
+        Most route_request callers (image generation, rerank, moderation,
+        speech, transcription, realtime, Responses WebSocket) are authenticated
+        but don't currently forward user_api_key_dict. Returning True here
+        would run the rewrite with no target authorization at all on exactly
+        those paths -- a key whose allowlist holds only the stale requested
+        spelling could reach a target it was never granted. Declining costs
+        those endpoints only the convenience rewrite; the AND-on-target
+        guarantee stays unconditional."""
         from litellm.proxy.route_llm_request import _canonical_target_is_allowed
 
         assert (
@@ -520,7 +528,7 @@ class TestCanonicalTargetReAuth:
                 llm_router=anthropic_router,
                 user_api_key_dict=None,
             )
-            is True
+            is False
         )