diff --git a/server/internal/api/handlers.go b/server/internal/api/handlers.go
index 96bd1fa..92400c2 100644
--- a/server/internal/api/handlers.go
+++ b/server/internal/api/handlers.go
@@ -115,19 +115,19 @@ func RegisterRoutes(r *gin.Engine) {
 		apiGroup.POST("/secrets", createSecretGroup)
 		apiGroup.GET("/secrets/:group", getSecretGroup)
 		apiGroup.PUT("/secrets/:group", putSecretGroup)
-		apiGroup.POST("/secrets/:group/reveal", revealSecret)
+		apiGroup.POST("/secrets/:group/reveal", auth.RequireStepUp(), revealSecret)
 		apiGroup.DELETE("/secrets/:group", deleteSecretGroup)
 		apiGroup.DELETE("/secrets/:group/:key", deleteSecretKey)
 
 		apiGroup.GET("/keys", listKeys)
 		apiGroup.POST("/keys", createKey)
 		apiGroup.GET("/keys/:id", getKey)
-		apiGroup.GET("/keys/:id/private-key", getPrivateKey)
+		apiGroup.GET("/keys/:id/private-key", auth.RequireStepUp(), getPrivateKey)
 		apiGroup.DELETE("/keys/:id", deleteKey)
 		apiGroup.POST("/keys/:id/assign", assignKey)
 		apiGroup.DELETE("/keys/:id/assign/:serverId", revokeAssignment)
 
-		apiGroup.POST("/console/connect", RequireFeature("console"), consoleConnect)
+		apiGroup.POST("/console/connect", auth.RequireStepUp(), RequireFeature("console"), consoleConnect)
 		apiGroup.GET("/console/tunnel", RequireFeature("console"), consoleTunnel)
 
 		// MCP is mounted inside /api so that bearer auth, rate limiting, licence
diff --git a/server/internal/auth/stepup.go b/server/internal/auth/stepup.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e57a8ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/internal/auth/stepup.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package auth
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"time"
+
+	"gitea.hostxtra.co.uk/mrhid6/vantage/server/internal/services"
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
+// StepUpWindow is how long one re-authentication covers. Ten minutes is long
+// enough to open several consoles in a row and short enough that a walked-away
+// laptop is not a fleet-wide credential.
+const StepUpWindow = 10 * time.Minute
+
+func stepUpFresh(sess *Session, now time.Time) bool {
+	if sess == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	// An API token authenticates per request and has no human to prompt.
+	if sess.TokenID != "" {
+		return true
+	}
+	for _, a := range sess.AMR {
+		if a == "oidc" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return sess.StepUpAt != nil && now.Sub(*sess.StepUpAt) < StepUpWindow
+}
+
+// RequireStepUp guards the actions that hand out credentials rather than
+// describe them: secret reveal, private key download, console connect.
+//
+// It answers a machine-readable code rather than a bare 403 so web/ can open
+// the re-authentication modal and retry the original request.
+func RequireStepUp() gin.HandlerFunc {
+	return func(c *gin.Context) {
+		sess := GetSessionFromContext(c)
+		if stepUpFresh(sess, time.Now()) {
+			c.Next()
+			return
+		}
+		methods, err := services.MFAMethods(sess.InstanceID, sess.UserID)
+		if err != nil || len(methods) == 0 {
+			methods = []string{services.FactorPassword}
+		}
+		c.AbortWithStatusJSON(http.StatusForbidden, gin.H{
+			"error":   "re-authentication required",
+			"code":    "step_up_required",
+			"methods": methods,
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/server/internal/auth/stepup_test.go b/server/internal/auth/stepup_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa60d9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/internal/auth/stepup_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package auth
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestStepUpFresh(t *testing.T) {
+	now := time.Now()
+	ago := func(d time.Duration) *time.Time { v := now.Add(-d); return &v }
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name string
+		sess *Session
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{"just signed in", &Session{StepUpAt: ago(time.Minute)}, true},
+		{"nine minutes ago", &Session{StepUpAt: ago(9 * time.Minute)}, true},
+		{"eleven minutes ago", &Session{StepUpAt: ago(11 * time.Minute)}, false},
+		{"never", &Session{}, false},
+		// An API token has no human to prompt; the spec exempts it and records
+		// the bypass as a known limitation.
+		{"api token", &Session{TokenID: "tok_1"}, true},
+		// An OIDC session's IdP owns authentication policy.
+		{"oidc session", &Session{AMR: []string{"oidc"}, StepUpAt: ago(time.Hour)}, true},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := stepUpFresh(tc.sess, now); got != tc.want {
+				t.Fatalf("stepUpFresh = %v, want %v", got, tc.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}