diff --git a/frontend/src/components/pages/Profile.tsx b/frontend/src/components/pages/Profile.tsx
index 1e84181c..a434a5f4 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/pages/Profile.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/pages/Profile.tsx
@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@ export const RenderProfile = (props: RenderProfileProps) => {
         return "Moderator";
       case permissions.includes("is_content_manager"):
         return "Content Manager";
+      case permissions.includes("is_verified_member"):
+        return "Verified Member";
       default:
         return "Member";
     }
diff --git a/frontend/src/gen/api.ts b/frontend/src/gen/api.ts
index 38804aba..ff617f98 100644
--- a/frontend/src/gen/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/gen/api.ts
@@ -1276,6 +1276,26 @@ export interface paths {
         patch?: never;
         trace?: never;
     };
+    "/teleop/rtc/check": {
+        parameters: {
+            query?: never;
+            header?: never;
+            path?: never;
+            cookie?: never;
+        };
+        /**
+         * Check Auth
+         * @description Validates the user's API key and returns their user ID.
+         */
+        get: operations["check_auth_teleop_rtc_check_get"];
+        put?: never;
+        post?: never;
+        delete?: never;
+        options?: never;
+        head?: never;
+        patch?: never;
+        trace?: never;
+    };
     "/krecs/upload": {
         parameters: {
             query?: never;
@@ -1462,6 +1482,11 @@ export interface components {
             /** Details */
             details: string;
         };
+        /** CheckAuthResponse */
+        CheckAuthResponse: {
+            /** User Id */
+            user_id: string;
+        };
         /** ClientIdResponse */
         ClientIdResponse: {
             /** Client Id */
@@ -1851,7 +1876,7 @@ export interface components {
             /** Google Id */
             google_id: string | null;
             /** Permissions */
-            permissions: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager")[] | null;
+            permissions: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager" | "is_verified_member")[] | null;
             /** First Name */
             first_name: string | null;
             /** Last Name */
@@ -2027,7 +2052,7 @@ export interface components {
             /** Username */
             username: string;
             /** Permissions */
-            permissions?: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager")[] | null;
+            permissions?: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager" | "is_verified_member")[] | null;
             /** Created At */
             created_at?: number | null;
             /** Updated At */
@@ -2306,7 +2331,7 @@ export interface components {
             /** Username */
             username: string;
             /** Permissions */
-            permissions?: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager")[] | null;
+            permissions?: ("is_admin" | "is_mod" | "is_content_manager" | "is_verified_member")[] | null;
             /** Created At */
             created_at: number;
             /** Updated At */
@@ -4620,6 +4645,26 @@ export interface operations {
             };
         };
     };
+    check_auth_teleop_rtc_check_get: {
+        parameters: {
+            query?: never;
+            header?: never;
+            path?: never;
+            cookie?: never;
+        };
+        requestBody?: never;
+        responses: {
+            /** @description Successful Response */
+            200: {
+                headers: {
+                    [name: string]: unknown;
+                };
+                content: {
+                    "application/json": components["schemas"]["CheckAuthResponse"];
+                };
+            };
+        };
+    };
     create_krec_krecs_upload_post: {
         parameters: {
             query?: never;
diff --git a/store/app/model.py b/store/app/model.py
index 1625d163..4d3fa1f6 100644
--- a/store/app/model.py
+++ b/store/app/model.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class StoreBaseModel(BaseModel):
     id: str
 
 
-UserPermission = Literal["is_admin", "is_mod", "is_content_manager"]
+UserPermission = Literal["is_admin", "is_mod", "is_content_manager", "is_verified_member"]
 
 
 class UserStripeConnect(BaseModel):
diff --git a/store/app/routers/artifacts.py b/store/app/routers/artifacts.py
index 2c2099fc..784b94b9 100644
--- a/store/app/routers/artifacts.py
+++ b/store/app/routers/artifacts.py
@@ -439,6 +439,12 @@ async def get_presigned_url(
             detail="Filename was not provided",
         )
 
+    user_permissions = user.permissions or set()
+    if not ("is_admin" in user_permissions or "is_verified_member" in user_permissions):
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, detail="Only verified members and admins can upload kernel images"
+        )
+
     if not Path(filename).suffix.lower() == ".img":
         raise HTTPException(
             status_code=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST, detail="Only .img files are supported for kernel uploads"
diff --git a/store/app/routers/teleop/webrtc.py b/store/app/routers/teleop/webrtc.py
index e0c58f2f..7e50fc2d 100644
--- a/store/app/routers/teleop/webrtc.py
+++ b/store/app/routers/teleop/webrtc.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends, WebSocket, WebSocketDisconnect
 from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse
+from pydantic import BaseModel
 
 from store.app.db import Crud
 from store.app.model import TeleopICECandidate, User
@@ -75,3 +76,15 @@ async def poll_ice_candidates(
         content=ice_candidates_generator(user.id, robot_id, crud),
         media_type="text/event-stream",
     )
+
+
+class CheckAuthResponse(BaseModel):
+    user_id: str
+
+
+@router.get("/check", response_model=CheckAuthResponse)
+async def check_auth(
+    user: Annotated[User, Depends(get_session_user_with_write_permission)],
+) -> CheckAuthResponse:
+    """Validates the user's API key and returns their user ID."""
+    return CheckAuthResponse(user_id=user.id)