diff --git a/py/services/downloader.py b/py/services/downloader.py
index 3925d093..2697ba26 100644
--- a/py/services/downloader.py
+++ b/py/services/downloader.py
@@ -156,6 +156,25 @@ class DownloadStalledError(Exception):
     """Raised when download progress stalls beyond the configured timeout."""
 
 
+def _disable_netrc_auth(session: aiohttp.ClientSession) -> None:
+    """Prevent the session from loading credentials from netrc files.
+
+    ``trust_env=True`` is kept so system-level proxies still work, but aiohttp
+    would also auto-apply netrc entries (e.g. ``machine civitai.red``) as
+    BasicAuth. aiohttp refuses to combine those with the explicit
+    ``Authorization: Bearer`` header set for CivitAI requests, raising
+    "Cannot combine AUTHORIZATION header with AUTH argument or credentials
+    encoded in URL" before the request is even sent. Subclassing ClientSession
+    is discouraged by aiohttp (emits a DeprecationWarning), so the private
+    hook is patched on the instance instead.
+    """
+
+    def _no_netrc_auth(*args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Optional[aiohttp.BasicAuth]:
+        return None
+
+    setattr(session, "_get_netrc_auth", _no_netrc_auth)
+
+
 class Downloader:
     """Unified downloader for all HTTP/HTTPS downloads in the application."""
 
@@ -370,6 +389,7 @@ class Downloader:
             trust_env=not app_proxy_active,
             timeout=timeout,
         )
+        _disable_netrc_auth(self._session)
 
         # Store proxy URL for per-request use. Stays None for SOCKS because the
         # ProxyConnector already tunnels everything; passing proxy= for SOCKS
diff --git a/tests/services/test_downloader.py b/tests/services/test_downloader.py
index ab276857..94ee8e74 100644
--- a/tests/services/test_downloader.py
+++ b/tests/services/test_downloader.py
@@ -272,3 +272,28 @@ async def test_download_file_retries_redirected_url_when_range_not_honored(tmp_p
     assert _session(downloader).requests[0]["headers"]["Range"] == "bytes=3-"
     assert _session(downloader).requests[1]["url"] == redirected_url
     assert _session(downloader).requests[1]["headers"]["Range"] == "bytes=3-"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_disable_netrc_auth_ignores_netrc_file(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """netrc entries must not be auto-applied as BasicAuth.
+
+    Regression test for "Cannot combine AUTHORIZATION header with AUTH
+    argument or credentials encoded in URL": with trust_env=True aiohttp
+    loads credentials from netrc files, which conflict with the explicit
+    Authorization: Bearer header used for CivitAI requests.
+    """
+    import aiohttp
+
+    from py.services.downloader import _disable_netrc_auth
+
+    netrc_file = tmp_path / ".netrc"
+    netrc_file.write_text("machine civitai.red\nlogin user\npassword pass\n")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NETRC", str(netrc_file))
+
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession(trust_env=True) as session:
+        # Premise: a plain session would pick up the netrc credentials.
+        assert session._get_netrc_auth("civitai.red") is not None
+
+        _disable_netrc_auth(session)
+        assert session._get_netrc_auth("civitai.red") is None