diff --git a/backend/api/cloud.py b/backend/api/cloud.py
index 69b970a..dd9f32c 100644
--- a/backend/api/cloud.py
+++ b/backend/api/cloud.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ from config import settings
 from db.models import CloudConnection, User
 from deps.auth import get_regular_user
 from deps.db import get_db
+from deps.utils import get_client_ip
 from services.audit import write_audit_log
 from services.rate_limiting import account_limiter
 from storage.cloud_utils import encrypt_credentials, decrypt_credentials, validate_cloud_url
@@ -626,7 +627,7 @@ async def connect_webdav(
     conn = await _upsert_cloud_connection(session, current_user.id, body.provider, credentials_enc)
     await session.flush()
 
-    _ip = request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For") or (request.client.host if request.client else None)
+    _ip = get_client_ip(request)
     await write_audit_log(
         session,
         event_type="cloud.connected",
@@ -763,7 +764,7 @@ async def delete_connection(
     from services.cloud_cache import invalidate_provider_cache  # lazy import
     invalidate_provider_cache(str(current_user.id), provider)
 
-    _ip = request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For") or (request.client.host if request.client else None)
+    _ip = get_client_ip(request)
 
     await write_audit_log(
         session,
diff --git a/backend/api/documents.py b/backend/api/documents.py
index 18628b8..767d0b1 100644
--- a/backend/api/documents.py
+++ b/backend/api/documents.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ from config import settings
 from db.models import CloudConnection, Document, Folder, Quota, Share, User
 from deps.auth import get_regular_user
 from deps.db import get_db
+from deps.utils import get_client_ip
 from services import classifier, storage
 from services.audit import write_audit_log
 from services.rate_limiting import account_limiter
@@ -272,9 +273,7 @@ async def upload_document(
     )
     session.add(doc)
 
-    _ip = (
-        request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For") or (request.client.host if request.client else None)
-    ) if request else None
+    _ip = get_client_ip(request) if request else None
     await write_audit_log(
         session,
         event_type="document.uploaded",
@@ -378,10 +377,7 @@ async def confirm_upload(
 
     doc.status = "uploaded"
     # D-13: document uploaded event — size_bytes + storage_backend only, NO filename, NO extracted_text (T-04-07-02)
-    # TRUST BOUNDARY: X-Forwarded-For is client-controlled — for audit logging only,
-    # not for auth/access control. Use a trusted reverse proxy in production to
-    # overwrite this header with the real remote IP before it reaches FastAPI.
-    _ip = request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For") or (request.client.host if request.client else None)
+    _ip = get_client_ip(request)
     await write_audit_log(
         session,
         event_type="document.uploaded",
@@ -664,10 +660,7 @@ async def delete_document(
     is_cloud = doc.storage_backend != "minio"
     _doc_size = doc.size_bytes
     _doc_id = doc.id
-    # TRUST BOUNDARY: X-Forwarded-For is client-controlled — for audit logging only,
-    # not for auth/access control. Use a trusted reverse proxy in production to
-    # overwrite this header with the real remote IP before it reaches FastAPI.
-    _ip = request.headers.get("X-Forwarded-For") or (request.client.host if request.client else None)
+    _ip = get_client_ip(request)
 
     # Cloud routing: attempt provider delete unless remove_only is set
     if is_cloud and not remove_only: