diff --git a/routes_passthrough.go b/routes_passthrough.go
index 1378c4c..a8f07ff 100644
--- a/routes_passthrough.go
+++ b/routes_passthrough.go
@@ -433,6 +433,7 @@ func peekPassthroughModel(r *http.Request) (model string, hasModel bool, err err
 // "model" never appears among its top-level keys before head runs out,
 // or "model" is present but its value is not a string.
 func scanTopLevelModel(head []byte) (model string, found bool) {
+	seenModel := false
 	dec := json.NewDecoder(bytes.NewReader(head))
 	tok, err := dec.Token()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -444,29 +445,48 @@ func scanTopLevelModel(head []byte) (model string, found bool) {
 	for dec.More() {
 		keyTok, err := dec.Token()
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", false
+			return model, found
 		}
 		key, ok := keyTok.(string)
 		if !ok {
-			return "", false // malformed: expected an object key
+			return model, found // malformed: expected an object key
 		}
 		valTok, err := dec.Token()
 		if err != nil {
-			return "", false
+			return model, found
 		}
 		if key == "model" {
-			s, ok := valTok.(string)
-			return s, ok && s != ""
+			// A DUPLICATE top-level "model" fails closed, matching
+			// extractMultipartModel's errDuplicateModelField rule
+			// (routes_media.go). Returning on the FIRST occurrence would be
+			// an authorization bypass: RFC 8259 permits duplicate names and
+			// every mainstream parser an upstream might use (Go's
+			// encoding/json, Python json.loads, Node JSON.parse, Ruby, PHP,
+			// Newtonsoft) resolves them LAST-wins, while this body is
+			// forwarded byte-for-byte unmodified — so a client could get
+			// {"model":"allowed","model":"expensive"} authorized against the
+			// first and executed as the second. Ambiguity is not
+			// resolvable here without rewriting the client's bytes, so the
+			// only safe answer is to refuse to answer.
+			if seenModel {
+				return "", false
+			}
+			seenModel = true
+			if s, isStr := valTok.(string); isStr && s != "" {
+				model = s
+				found = true
+			}
+			continue
 		}
 		if d, ok := valTok.(json.Delim); ok && (d == '{' || d == '[') {
 			if err := skipJSONValue(dec); err != nil {
-				return "", false
+				return model, found
 			}
 		}
 		// Otherwise valTok was a scalar (string/float64/bool/nil) other
 		// than "model" — nothing further to do; loop to the next key.
 	}
-	return "", false
+	return model, found
 }
 
 // skipJSONValue consumes the remainder of a nested JSON array/object
diff --git a/routes_passthrough_test.go b/routes_passthrough_test.go
index 02ac335..802cf48 100644
--- a/routes_passthrough_test.go
+++ b/routes_passthrough_test.go
@@ -1708,3 +1708,38 @@ func TestHandlePassthrough_ZeroConfig_NewFieldsUnset_BehavesIdenticallyToBefore(
 		t.Errorf("upstream body = %q, want the client body preserved unchanged", gotBody)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestScanTopLevelModel_DuplicateModelKeyFailsClosed pins the fail-closed
+// rule for a duplicate top-level "model" key (security audit, 2026-08-22,
+// round 3). RFC 8259 permits duplicate names and every mainstream upstream
+// parser resolves them LAST-wins, while this gateway forwards a passthrough
+// body byte-for-byte — so reporting the FIRST occurrence (the behaviour
+// before this test existed) let a model-restricted caller authorize against
+// "allowed" and execute "expensive". scanTopLevelModel refuses to answer
+// instead, matching extractMultipartModel's errDuplicateModelField rule.
+func TestScanTopLevelModel_DuplicateModelKeyFailsClosed(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name      string
+		body      string
+		wantModel string
+		wantFound bool
+	}{
+		{"single model", `{"model":"allowed","messages":[]}`, "allowed", true},
+		{"model after other keys", `{"stream":true,"model":"allowed"}`, "allowed", true},
+		{"model found then body truncated", `{"model":"allowed","messages":[{"role":"user"`, "allowed", true},
+		{"duplicate model", `{"model":"allowed","model":"expensive","messages":[]}`, "", false},
+		{"duplicate across a nested object", `{"model":"allowed","opts":{"a":1},"model":"expensive"}`, "", false},
+		{"duplicate with identical values", `{"model":"same","model":"same"}`, "", false},
+		{"no model", `{"messages":[]}`, "", false},
+		{"nested model only", `{"opts":{"model":"x"}}`, "", false},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			gotModel, gotFound := scanTopLevelModel([]byte(tc.body))
+			if gotModel != tc.wantModel || gotFound != tc.wantFound {
+				t.Fatalf("scanTopLevelModel(%s) = (%q, %v), want (%q, %v)",
+					tc.body, gotModel, gotFound, tc.wantModel, tc.wantFound)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}