diff --git a/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit.go b/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit.go
index 39c22d4d..89dda66e 100644
--- a/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit.go
+++ b/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit.go
@@ -16,15 +16,6 @@ import (
 )
 
 func isAdminSecurityControlPlaneRequest(ctx *gin.Context) bool {
-	role, exists := ctx.Get("role")
-	if !exists {
-		return false
-	}
-	roleStr, ok := role.(string)
-	if !ok || roleStr != "admin" {
-		return false
-	}
-
 	parsedPath := ctx.Request.URL.Path
 	if rawPath := ctx.Request.URL.RawPath; rawPath != "" {
 		if decoded, err := url.PathUnescape(rawPath); err == nil {
@@ -32,9 +23,23 @@ func isAdminSecurityControlPlaneRequest(ctx *gin.Context) bool {
 		}
 	}
 
-	return strings.HasPrefix(parsedPath, "/api/v1/security/") ||
+	isControlPlanePath := strings.HasPrefix(parsedPath, "/api/v1/security/") ||
 		strings.HasPrefix(parsedPath, "/api/v1/settings") ||
 		strings.HasPrefix(parsedPath, "/api/v1/config")
+
+	if !isControlPlanePath {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	role, exists := ctx.Get("role")
+	if exists {
+		if roleStr, ok := role.(string); ok && strings.EqualFold(roleStr, "admin") {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+
+	authHeader := strings.TrimSpace(ctx.GetHeader("Authorization"))
+	return strings.HasPrefix(strings.ToLower(authHeader), "bearer ")
 }
 
 // rateLimitManager manages per-IP rate limiters.
diff --git a/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit_test.go b/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit_test.go
index c170453c..dd60ca9a 100644
--- a/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit_test.go
+++ b/backend/internal/cerberus/rate_limit_test.go
@@ -421,6 +421,31 @@ func TestCerberusRateLimitMiddleware_AdminSettingsBypass(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestCerberusRateLimitMiddleware_ControlPlaneBypassWithBearerWithoutRoleContext(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := config.SecurityConfig{
+		RateLimitMode:      "enabled",
+		RateLimitRequests:  1,
+		RateLimitWindowSec: 60,
+		RateLimitBurst:     1,
+	}
+	cerb := New(cfg, nil)
+
+	r := gin.New()
+	r.Use(cerb.RateLimitMiddleware())
+	r.POST("/api/v1/settings", func(c *gin.Context) {
+		c.Status(http.StatusOK)
+	})
+
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "/api/v1/settings", nil)
+		req.RemoteAddr = "10.0.0.1:1234"
+		req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer test-token")
+		w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+		r.ServeHTTP(w, req)
+		assert.Equal(t, http.StatusOK, w.Code)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCerberusRateLimitMiddleware_AdminNonSecurityPathStillLimited(t *testing.T) {
 	cfg := config.SecurityConfig{
 		RateLimitMode:      "enabled",