From 46d2bf02c98902da7b344753372d48cfe0e5ebb3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Maxwell <145994855+ping-maxwell@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2026 10:08:47 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: get-session should have `no-cache` cache control headers
 (#10222)

---
 .changeset/sixty-animals-brake.md             |  5 ++
 .../src/api/routes/session-api.test.ts        | 73 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../better-auth/src/api/routes/session.ts     | 11 ++-
 3 files changed, 88 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 .changeset/sixty-animals-brake.md

diff --git a/.changeset/sixty-animals-brake.md b/.changeset/sixty-animals-brake.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3e03125cbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/sixty-animals-brake.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"better-auth": patch
+---
+
+fix: add no-store cache-control headers to get-session route
diff --git a/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session-api.test.ts b/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session-api.test.ts
index 4f75fa6c50..393a9152ed 100644
--- a/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session-api.test.ts
+++ b/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session-api.test.ts
@@ -2433,3 +2433,76 @@ describe("forced strict session validation", async () => {
 		});
 	});
 });
+
+describe("get-session cache headers", async () => {
+	/**
+	 * @see https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/issues/10217
+	 */
+	it("sets Cache-Control: no-store on authenticated GET /get-session responses", async () => {
+		const { auth, client, testUser, cookieSetter } = await getTestInstance();
+
+		const headers = new Headers();
+		await client.signIn.email(
+			{ email: testUser.email, password: testUser.password },
+			{ onSuccess: cookieSetter(headers) },
+		);
+
+		const res = await auth.handler(
+			new Request("http://localhost:3000/api/auth/get-session", {
+				headers: { cookie: headers.get("cookie") || "" },
+			}),
+		);
+
+		expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+		const body = (await res.json()) as { user?: { id: string } } | null;
+		expect(body?.user?.id).toBeTruthy();
+		expect(res.headers.get("cache-control")).toContain("no-store");
+	});
+
+	/**
+	 * @see https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/issues/10217
+	 */
+	it("sets Cache-Control: no-store on unauthenticated GET /get-session responses", async () => {
+		const { auth } = await getTestInstance();
+
+		const res = await auth.handler(
+			new Request("http://localhost:3000/api/auth/get-session"),
+		);
+
+		expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+		expect(await res.json()).toBeNull();
+		expect(res.headers.get("cache-control")).toContain("no-store");
+	});
+
+	/**
+	 * @see https://github.com/better-auth/better-auth/pull/10222
+	 */
+	it("does not set Cache-Control: no-store on session-gated endpoints", async () => {
+		const sessionGatedPlugin = {
+			id: "session-gated-cache-test",
+			endpoints: {
+				sessionGatedCheck: createAuthEndpoint(
+					"/session-gated-cache-check",
+					{
+						method: "GET",
+						use: [freshSessionMiddleware],
+					},
+					async () => ({ status: true }),
+				),
+			},
+		};
+		const { auth, signInWithTestUser } = await getTestInstance({
+			plugins: [sessionGatedPlugin],
+		});
+		const { headers } = await signInWithTestUser();
+
+		const res = await auth.handler(
+			new Request("http://localhost:3000/api/auth/session-gated-cache-check", {
+				headers: { cookie: headers.get("cookie") || "" },
+			}),
+		);
+
+		expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+		expect(res.headers.get("cache-control")).toBeNull();
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session.ts b/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session.ts
index e3c057bd52..1134250ac7 100644
--- a/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session.ts
+++ b/packages/better-auth/src/api/routes/session.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ export const getSession = <Option extends BetterAuthOptions>() =>
 			session: Session<Option["session"], Option["plugins"]>;
 			user: User<Option["user"], Option["plugins"]>;
 		} | null> => {
+			ctx.setHeader("cache-control", "no-store");
+			ctx.setHeader("pragma", "no-cache");
+
 			const deferSessionRefresh =
 				ctx.context.options.session?.deferSessionRefresh;
 			const isPostRequest = ctx.method === "POST";
@@ -584,9 +587,15 @@ export const getSessionFromCtx = async <
 	}
 	if (session.headers) {
 		session.headers.forEach((value, key) => {
+			const lowerKey = key.toLowerCase();
+			// /get-session response cache headers must not leak onto endpoints
+			// that resolve the session via getSessionFromCtx.
+			if (lowerKey === "cache-control" || lowerKey === "pragma") {
+				return;
+			}
 			if (!ctx.context.responseHeaders) {
 				ctx.context.responseHeaders = new Headers({ [key]: value });
-			} else if (key.toLowerCase() === "set-cookie") {
+			} else if (lowerKey === "set-cookie") {
 				ctx.context.responseHeaders.append(key, value);
 			} else {
 				ctx.context.responseHeaders.set(key, value);