v1.2.27 - Permanent ban escalation: ban_count never resets, IPs with history always get 24h ban on next failure

src/ip_ban.c

@@ -350,18 +350,20 @@ void ip_ban_cleanup(void) {
             int last_ban_expired_long_ago = (entry->banned_until == 0 ||
                                              (now - entry->banned_until) > retain_sec);
 
-            if (last_ban_expired_long_ago && !entry->has_authed_successfully) {
-                // Fully clean — no ban history and never authenticated
+            if (last_ban_expired_long_ago && !entry->has_authed_successfully &&
+                entry->ban_count == 0 && entry->total_connections <= 1) {
+                // Fully clean — never banned, never authenticated, only seen once
                 memset(entry, 0, sizeof(ip_ban_entry_t));
                 cleaned++;
             } else {
-                // Keep entry — either has ban history or has authenticated before
+                // Keep entry permanently — preserve ban_count for escalation.
+                // An IP that has been banned before will always get at least a 24-hour ban
+                // if it fails auth again, regardless of how long it has been away.
                 entry->failure_count = 0;
                 entry->first_failure = 0;
                 if (last_ban_expired_long_ago) {
                     entry->banned_until = 0;
-                    // Reset ban_count after 24 hours of inactivity
-                    entry->ban_count = 0;
+                    // ban_count intentionally NOT reset — permanent escalation
                 }
             }
         }

src/main.h

@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@
 // Using CRELAY_ prefix to avoid conflicts with nostr_core_lib VERSION macros
 #define CRELAY_VERSION_MAJOR 1
 #define CRELAY_VERSION_MINOR 2
-#define CRELAY_VERSION_PATCH 26
-#define CRELAY_VERSION "v1.2.26"
+#define CRELAY_VERSION_PATCH 27
+#define CRELAY_VERSION "v1.2.27"
 
 // Relay metadata (authoritative source for NIP-11 information)
 #define RELAY_NAME "C-Relay"