diff --git a/server/tests/e2e/storage-admin.e2e.test.ts b/server/tests/e2e/storage-admin.e2e.test.ts
index b67c2dee1..bbb1791bc 100644
--- a/server/tests/e2e/storage-admin.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/e2e/storage-admin.e2e.test.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@ describe('Storage admin e2e (real auth + admin guard + managed guard + temp SQLi
     // class-level (JwtAuthGuard + AdminGuard on the controller), not re-added
     // per handler where a future handler could forget them.
     expect((await request(server).put('/api/admin/storage').send({ backends: [], categories: {} })).status).toBe(401);
+    expect(
+      (await request(server).post('/api/admin/storage/test').send({ backend: { name: 'x', type: 'local', options: { root: '/tmp' } } })).status,
+    ).toBe(401);
   });
 
   it('STORE2E-002 403 for a non-admin', async () => {
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-admin.service.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-admin.service.test.ts
index 5e07a5d5a..275cc245f 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-admin.service.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-admin.service.test.ts
@@ -320,4 +320,36 @@ describe('StorageAdminService.testBackend', () => {
       }),
     ).rejects.toThrow("re-enter the secret 'secretAccessKey' for 'ghost'");
   });
+
+  it('STORADM-025 a mirror with a stored s3 replica decrypts the enc:v1: secret for the probe', async () => {
+    const goodRoot = makeTmpDir();
+    const { service, uploadsRoot } = makeService();
+    service.applyConfig(configWith(uploadsRoot, {
+      backends: [
+        { name: 'good-local', type: 'local', options: { root: goodRoot } },
+        {
+          name: 'off-box',
+          type: 's3',
+          options: { ...S3_OPTIONS, endpoint: 'http://127.0.0.1:1', retries: 0, timeoutMs: 200 },
+        },
+      ],
+      categories: {},
+    }));
+    // applyConfig encrypted the secret at rest — the snapshot the mirror
+    // expansion reads holds ciphertext, so this probe exercises the full
+    // snapshot → decryptBackendSecrets → ephemeral S3Driver chain.
+    expect(readRow(BACKENDS_KEY)).toContain('enc:v1:');
+    const result = await service.testBackend({
+      name: 'cand-mirror',
+      type: 'mirror',
+      options: { primary: 'good-local', replicas: ['off-box'] },
+    });
+    expect(result.targets).toEqual([
+      { name: 'good-local', ok: true },
+      expect.objectContaining({ name: 'off-box', ok: false }),
+    ]);
+    // Decrypt succeeded: the replica failed on the network. A decrypt failure
+    // would reject the whole call (decryptBackendSecrets throws), not mark a target.
+    expect(result.targets[1]!.error).not.toContain('could not decrypt');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
index dcc5048f7..a414d245a 100644
--- a/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
+++ b/server/tests/unit/nest/storage/storage-registry.service.test.ts
@@ -589,6 +589,33 @@ describe('seed-once storage-config.json import', () => {
     expect(readRow('storage.backends')).toBe(firstRow);
     expect(second.resolve('backups').backendName).toBe('nas');
   });
+
+  it('SEED-010 an all-encrypted seed imports without ENCRYPTION_KEY (the gate is plaintext-only)', () => {
+    const cipher = encrypt_api_key('sk-seed');
+    writeSeed(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        backends: [
+          {
+            name: 'off-box',
+            type: 's3',
+            options: {
+              endpoint: 'http://127.0.0.1:9000',
+              bucket: 'trek',
+              accessKeyId: 'ak',
+              secretAccessKey: cipher,
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+        categories: { backups: 'off-box' },
+      }),
+    );
+    const registry = makeUnseededRegistry({ encryptionKeySet: false });
+    registry.onModuleInit();
+    // enc:v1: values are not "plaintext secrets" — the key-presence gate must
+    // not fire, and the ciphertext must persist byte-for-byte (idempotent encrypt).
+    expect(registry.resolve('backups').driver).toBeInstanceOf(S3Driver);
+    expect(readRow('storage.backends')).toContain(cipher);
+  });
 });
 
 // ── snapshot() — effective world with provenance ──────────────────────────────