diff --git a/Jellyfin.Api/Middleware/WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware.cs b/Jellyfin.Api/Middleware/WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7796eb64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Jellyfin.Api/Middleware/WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+// <copyright file="WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware.cs" company="PlaceholderCompany">
+// Copyright (c) PlaceholderCompany. All rights reserved.
+// </copyright>
+
+namespace Jellyfin.Api.Middleware;
+
+using System;
+using System.Globalization;
+using System.Security.Claims;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Jellyfin.Api.Constants;
+using Jellyfin.Data;
+using Jellyfin.Database.Implementations.Enums;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.Net;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// WebSocket Authentication Middleware.
+/// Extracts and validates API tokens from WebSocket query strings.
+/// </summary>
+public class WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware
+{
+    private readonly RequestDelegate _next;
+    private readonly ILogger<WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware> _logger;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware"/> class.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="next">The next delegate in the pipeline.</param>
+    /// <param name="logger">The logger.</param>
+    public WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware(RequestDelegate next, ILogger<WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware> logger)
+    {
+        _next = next;
+        _logger = logger;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Executes the middleware action.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="httpContext">The current HTTP context.</param>
+    /// <param name="authService">The authentication service.</param>
+    /// <returns>The async task.</returns>
+    public async Task Invoke(HttpContext httpContext, IAuthService authService)
+    {
+        // Only process WebSocket upgrade requests on the /socket endpoint
+        if (httpContext.WebSockets.IsWebSocketRequestUpgrade
+            && httpContext.Request.Path.StartsWithSegments("/socket", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+        {
+            await AuthenticateWebSocketRequest(httpContext, authService).ConfigureAwait(false);
+        }
+
+        await _next(httpContext).ConfigureAwait(false);
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Authenticates WebSocket requests by extracting api_key from query string.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <param name="httpContext">The HTTP context.</param>
+    /// <param name="authService">The authentication service.</param>
+    /// <returns>The async task.</returns>
+    private async Task AuthenticateWebSocketRequest(HttpContext httpContext, IAuthService authService)
+    {
+        try
+        {
+            // Extract api_key from query string
+            if (!httpContext.Request.Query.TryGetValue("api_key", out var apiKeyValues) || apiKeyValues.Count == 0)
+            {
+                _logger.LogDebug("WebSocket connection attempted without api_key query parameter. IP: {IP}", 
+                    httpContext.Connection.RemoteIpAddress);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            var apiKey = apiKeyValues[0];
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(apiKey))
+            {
+                _logger.LogDebug("WebSocket connection attempted with empty api_key. IP: {IP}", 
+                    httpContext.Connection.RemoteIpAddress);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // Authenticate using the provided api_key
+            var authorizationInfo = await authService.Authenticate(httpContext.Request).ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+            if (!authorizationInfo.HasToken)
+            {
+                _logger.LogDebug("WebSocket authentication failed: Invalid or expired token. IP: {IP}", 
+                    httpContext.Connection.RemoteIpAddress);
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // Set the authenticated user in the context for downstream middleware
+            var role = UserRoles.User;
+            if (authorizationInfo.IsApiKey
+                || (authorizationInfo.User?.HasPermission(PermissionKind.IsAdministrator) ?? false))
+            {
+                role = UserRoles.Administrator;
+            }
+
+            var claims = new[]
+            {
+                new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, authorizationInfo.User?.Username ?? string.Empty),
+                new Claim(ClaimTypes.Role, role),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.UserId, authorizationInfo.UserId.ToString("N", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.DeviceId, authorizationInfo.DeviceId ?? string.Empty),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.Device, authorizationInfo.Device ?? string.Empty),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.Client, authorizationInfo.Client ?? string.Empty),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.Version, authorizationInfo.Version ?? string.Empty),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.Token, authorizationInfo.Token),
+                new Claim(InternalClaimTypes.IsApiKey, authorizationInfo.IsApiKey.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture))
+            };
+
+            var identity = new ClaimsIdentity(claims, "WebSocket");
+            var principal = new ClaimsPrincipal(identity);
+            httpContext.User = principal;
+
+            _logger.LogDebug("WebSocket authentication successful for user {Username}. IP: {IP}",
+                authorizationInfo.User?.Username ?? "Unknown",
+                httpContext.Connection.RemoteIpAddress);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex)
+        {
+            _logger.LogDebug(ex, "Error during WebSocket authentication. IP: {IP}",
+                httpContext.Connection.RemoteIpAddress);
+        }
+    }
+}
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Adds WebSocket authentication to the application pipeline.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="appBuilder">The application builder.</param>
+        /// <returns>The updated application builder.</returns>
+        public static IApplicationBuilder UseWebSocketAuthentication(this IApplicationBuilder appBuilder)
+        {
+            return appBuilder.UseMiddleware<WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware>();
+        }
diff --git a/Jellyfin.Server/Extensions/ApiApplicationBuilderExtensions.cs b/Jellyfin.Server/Extensions/ApiApplicationBuilderExtensions.cs
index 3b0fa690..b9dcfda3 100644
--- a/Jellyfin.Server/Extensions/ApiApplicationBuilderExtensions.cs
+++ b/Jellyfin.Server/Extensions/ApiApplicationBuilderExtensions.cs
@@ -121,5 +121,14 @@ namespace Jellyfin.Server.Extensions
         {
             return appBuilder.UseMiddleware<RobotsRedirectionMiddleware>();
         }
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Adds WebSocket authentication to the application pipeline.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="appBuilder">The application builder.</param>
+        /// <returns>The updated application builder.</returns>
+        public static IApplicationBuilder UseWebSocketAuthentication(this IApplicationBuilder appBuilder)
+        {
+            return appBuilder.UseMiddleware<WebSocketAuthenticationMiddleware>();
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/Jellyfin.Server/Startup.cs b/Jellyfin.Server/Startup.cs
index 8edba923..3a2269cc 100644
--- a/Jellyfin.Server/Startup.cs
+++ b/Jellyfin.Server/Startup.cs
@@ -168,6 +168,8 @@ namespace Jellyfin.Server
 
                 mainApp.UseWebSockets();
 
+                mainApp.UseWebSocketAuthentication();
+
                 mainApp.UseResponseCompression();
 
                 mainApp.UseCors();