diff --git a/backend/Cargo.lock b/backend/Cargo.lock
index 5dc3953..5890a44 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.lock
+++ b/backend/Cargo.lock
@@ -1558,7 +1558,7 @@ checksum = "c41e0c4fef86961ac6d6f8a82609f55f31b05e4fce149ac5710e439df7619ba4"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.90.5"
+version = "0.90.6"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "argon2",
diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index 10ddecd..0c9e4e4 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "mangalord"
-version = "0.90.5"
+version = "0.90.6"
 edition = "2021"
 default-run = "mangalord"
 
diff --git a/frontend/e2e/auth-flow.spec.ts b/frontend/e2e/auth-flow.spec.ts
index 942061a..a7f4ce0 100644
--- a/frontend/e2e/auth-flow.spec.ts
+++ b/frontend/e2e/auth-flow.spec.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,52 @@ test('login then logout flips the layout between authenticated and anonymous', a
     await expect(page.getByTestId('nav-login')).toBeVisible();
 });
 
+test('login redirects to a safe ?next= target after authenticating', async ({ page }) => {
+    await stubAnonymousThenAuthenticated(page);
+
+    // Arrive at /login carrying a same-origin ?next= (the shape the layout
+    // produces when bouncing an unauthenticated user off a gated page).
+    await page.goto('/login?next=%2Fsearch');
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('nav-login')).toBeVisible();
+    await page.getByTestId('login-username').fill('alice');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-password').fill('hunter2hunter2');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-submit').click();
+
+    // Lands on the requested page, not the default root.
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/search$/);
+});
+
+test('login ignores an unsafe ?next= and falls back to /', async ({ page }) => {
+    await stubAnonymousThenAuthenticated(page);
+
+    // A protocol-relative open-redirect attempt must be discarded.
+    await page.goto('/login?next=%2F%2Fevil.com');
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('nav-login')).toBeVisible();
+    await page.getByTestId('login-username').fill('alice');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-password').fill('hunter2hunter2');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-submit').click();
+
+    // Authenticated and on the site root — never navigated off-origin.
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/$/);
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('session-user')).toContainText('alice');
+});
+
+test('login rejects the %09 control-char open-redirect bypass', async ({ page }) => {
+    await stubAnonymousThenAuthenticated(page);
+
+    // "/\t/evil.com" passes a naive startsWith('/') && !startsWith('//')
+    // guard but collapses to "//evil.com" once the browser strips the tab.
+    await page.goto('/login?next=%2F%09%2Fevil.com');
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('nav-login')).toBeVisible();
+    await page.getByTestId('login-username').fill('alice');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-password').fill('hunter2hunter2');
+    await page.getByTestId('login-submit').click();
+
+    // Stayed on-origin at the root, authenticated.
+    await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/$/);
+    await expect(page.getByTestId('session-user')).toContainText('alice');
+});
+
 test('login surfaces the API error message on bad credentials', async ({ page }) => {
     await page.route('**/api/v1/auth/me', async (route) => {
         await route.fulfill({
diff --git a/frontend/package.json b/frontend/package.json
index 29cbfac..756f3a1 100644
--- a/frontend/package.json
+++ b/frontend/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "mangalord-frontend",
-  "version": "0.90.5",
+  "version": "0.90.6",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.test.ts b/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..49ba3af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { safeNext } from './safeNext';
+
+describe('safeNext', () => {
+    it('allows same-origin absolute paths', () => {
+        expect(safeNext('/library')).toBe('/library');
+        expect(safeNext('/search?q=berserk')).toBe('/search?q=berserk');
+        expect(safeNext('/manga/123#page-2')).toBe('/manga/123#page-2');
+    });
+
+    it('falls back to / for missing or empty input', () => {
+        expect(safeNext(null)).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext(undefined)).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext('')).toBe('/');
+    });
+
+    it('rejects protocol-relative URLs (open redirect)', () => {
+        expect(safeNext('//evil.com')).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext('//evil.com/path')).toBe('/');
+    });
+
+    it('rejects backslash tricks browsers normalise to //', () => {
+        expect(safeNext('/\\evil.com')).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext('/\\/evil.com')).toBe('/');
+    });
+
+    it('rejects control/whitespace chars browsers strip mid-parse', () => {
+        // These start with a single "/" so the prefix checks alone would pass
+        // them, but a browser strips the tab/newline/CR and the value
+        // collapses to a protocol-relative //evil.com — the %09/%0A/%0D
+        // open-redirect bypass.
+        expect(safeNext('/\t/evil.com')).toBe('/'); // %09 tab
+        expect(safeNext('/\n/evil.com')).toBe('/'); // %0A newline
+        expect(safeNext('/\r/evil.com')).toBe('/'); // %0D carriage return
+        expect(safeNext('/ /evil.com')).toBe('/'); // space
+        expect(safeNext(`/${String.fromCharCode(0)}/evil.com`)).toBe('/'); // NUL
+        expect(safeNext(`/${String.fromCharCode(0x2028)}/evil.com`)).toBe('/'); // line sep
+    });
+
+    it('rejects absolute and scheme URLs', () => {
+        expect(safeNext('https://evil.com')).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext('http://evil.com')).toBe('/');
+        expect(safeNext('javascript:alert(1)')).toBe('/');
+    });
+
+    it('rejects bare paths without a leading slash', () => {
+        expect(safeNext('library')).toBe('/');
+    });
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.ts b/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef1468d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/lib/safeNext.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * Sanitise a `?next=` post-login/registration redirect target.
+ *
+ * The login/register flow round-trips the page the user was bounced from via
+ * `?next=`. Navigating to an attacker-supplied value would be an open
+ * redirect, so only same-origin absolute paths are allowed: the value must
+ * start with a single `/` and must not be protocol-relative (`//evil.com`)
+ * or a backslash trick (`/\evil.com`, which some parsers normalise to `//`).
+ *
+ * Crucially, the structural prefix checks are not enough on their own:
+ * browsers **strip ASCII tab/newline/CR mid-parse**, so `/\t/evil.com`
+ * (which starts with a single `/`) collapses to the protocol-relative
+ * `//evil.com` once navigated — an open-redirect bypass via `%09`/`%0A`/
+ * `%0D`. So we reject any control or whitespace character (and backslashes)
+ * *before* the prefix checks. Anything else — absolute URLs, `javascript:`
+ * URIs, empty/missing — falls back to the site root.
+ */
+function hasUnsafeNextChar(s: string): boolean {
+    for (let i = 0; i < s.length; i++) {
+        const c = s.charCodeAt(i);
+        // C0 controls + space (<= 0x20), DEL (0x7f), or backslash (0x5c) —
+        // characters a URL parser may strip or treat as a path separator.
+        if (c <= 0x20 || c === 0x7f || c === 0x5c) return true;
+    }
+    // Any remaining Unicode whitespace (NBSP, line/paragraph separators, …).
+    return /\s/.test(s);
+}
+
+export function safeNext(next: string | null | undefined): string {
+    if (typeof next !== 'string' || next.length === 0) return '/';
+    if (hasUnsafeNextChar(next)) return '/';
+    if (!next.startsWith('/') || next.startsWith('//')) return '/';
+    return next;
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/login/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/login/+page.svelte
index 21f3394..a8c79b2 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/login/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/login/+page.svelte
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
     import { goto } from '$app/navigation';
     import { login } from '$lib/api/auth';
     import { session } from '$lib/session.svelte';
+    import { safeNext } from '$lib/safeNext';
 
     let username = $state('');
     let password = $state('');
@@ -15,7 +16,10 @@
         try {
             const user = await login({ username, password });
             session.setUser(user);
-            await goto('/');
+            // Return the user to the page they were bounced from (?next=),
+            // guarded against open redirects; default to the site root.
+            const next = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('next');
+            await goto(safeNext(next));
         } catch (e) {
             error = (e as Error).message;
         } finally {
diff --git a/frontend/src/routes/register/+page.svelte b/frontend/src/routes/register/+page.svelte
index 5d49473..2493a25 100644
--- a/frontend/src/routes/register/+page.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/routes/register/+page.svelte
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     import { register } from '$lib/api/auth';
     import { authConfig } from '$lib/auth-config.svelte';
     import { session } from '$lib/session.svelte';
+    import { safeNext } from '$lib/safeNext';
 
     let username = $state('');
     let password = $state('');
@@ -24,7 +25,10 @@
         try {
             const user = await register({ username, password });
             session.setUser(user);
-            await goto('/');
+            // Honour ?next= the same way login does (registration logs the
+            // user in), guarded against open redirects.
+            const next = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('next');
+            await goto(safeNext(next));
         } catch (e) {
             error = (e as Error).message;
         } finally {