diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index a88b64a..7e06b2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -321,6 +321,9 @@ jobs:
             topology: rekey-outbound-only
           - suite: acl-allowlist
             type: acl-allowlist
+          # ── Firewall baseline (fips0 nftables default-deny) ────────────
+          - suite: firewall
+            type: firewall
           # ── Outbound LAN gateway integration test ──────────────────────
           - suite: gateway
             type: gateway
@@ -575,6 +578,22 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           docker compose -f testing/acl-allowlist/docker-compose.yml down --volumes --remove-orphans
 
+      # ── Firewall baseline integration test ─────────────────────────────────
+      - name: Run firewall baseline integration test
+        if: matrix.type == 'firewall'
+        run: bash testing/firewall/test.sh --skip-build --keep-up
+
+      - name: Collect logs on failure (firewall)
+        if: matrix.type == 'firewall' && failure()
+        run: |
+          docker compose -f testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml logs --no-color
+          docker exec fips-fw-container-b nft list table inet fips || true
+
+      - name: Stop containers (firewall)
+        if: matrix.type == 'firewall' && always()
+        run: |
+          docker compose -f testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml down --volumes --remove-orphans
+
       # ── Chaos simulation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
       - name: Install Python deps (chaos)
         if: matrix.type == 'chaos'
diff --git a/testing/ci-local.sh b/testing/ci-local.sh
index 0bbc31f..bcda5b9 100755
--- a/testing/ci-local.sh
+++ b/testing/ci-local.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 # Integration suites (default coverage):
 #   static-mesh, static-chain, rekey, rekey-accept-off,
 #   rekey-outbound-only, gateway,
-#   acl-allowlist, nat-cone, nat-symmetric, nat-lan,
+#   acl-allowlist, firewall, nat-cone, nat-symmetric, nat-lan,
 #   nostr-publish-consume,
 #   chaos-smoke-10, chaos-churn-mixed-10, chaos-ethernet-mesh,
 #   chaos-ethernet-only, chaos-tcp-mesh, chaos-bottleneck-parent,
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ CHAOS_SUITES=(
 GATEWAY_SUITES=(gateway)
 SIDECAR_SUITES=(sidecar)
 ACL_SUITES=(acl-allowlist)
+FIREWALL_SUITES=(firewall)
 NAT_SUITES=(cone symmetric lan)
 NOSTR_RELAY_SUITES=(nostr-publish-consume)
 DNS_RESOLVER_SUITES=(dns-resolver)
@@ -113,6 +114,9 @@ list_suites() {
     echo "  ACL allowlist:"
     for s in "${ACL_SUITES[@]}"; do echo "    $s"; done
     echo ""
+    echo "  Firewall baseline:"
+    for s in "${FIREWALL_SUITES[@]}"; do echo "    $s"; done
+    echo ""
     echo "  NAT scenarios:"
     for s in "${NAT_SUITES[@]}"; do echo "    nat-$s"; done
     echo ""
@@ -440,6 +444,16 @@ run_acl_allowlist() {
     fi
 }
 
+# Run firewall baseline integration test
+run_firewall() {
+    info "[firewall] Running integration test"
+    if bash testing/firewall/test.sh --skip-build 2>&1; then
+        record "firewall" 0
+    else
+        record "firewall" 1
+    fi
+}
+
 # Run a NAT scenario (cone, symmetric, lan)
 run_nat() {
     local scenario="$1"
@@ -540,6 +554,9 @@ run_integration() {
     # ACL allowlist
     run_acl_allowlist
 
+    # Firewall baseline
+    run_firewall
+
     # NAT scenarios (sequential — each owns its compose project)
     for scenario in "${NAT_SUITES[@]}"; do
         run_nat "$scenario"
@@ -632,6 +649,8 @@ run_suite() {
             run_gateway ;;
         acl-allowlist)
             run_acl_allowlist ;;
+        firewall)
+            run_firewall ;;
         nat-cone|nat-symmetric|nat-lan)
             run_nat "${suite#nat-}" ;;
         nostr-publish-consume)
diff --git a/testing/firewall/.gitignore b/testing/firewall/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31315f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/firewall/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+generated-configs
diff --git a/testing/firewall/README.md b/testing/firewall/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1da268d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/firewall/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# Firewall Baseline Test
+
+End-to-end exercise of the production fips0 nftables baseline at
+`packaging/common/fips.nft`. Closes the v0.3.0 audit gap that the
+default-deny + conntrack + drop-in semantics had no integration coverage.
+
+## What this exercises
+
+The `fips.nft` baseline polices ONLY the fips0 mesh interface and
+implements default-deny inbound. This suite asserts the four behaviors
+documented in the file's header are actually true on a live mesh:
+
+- **(a)** Unallowed inbound on fips0 is **dropped**
+- **(b)** Outbound-initiated flows get their reply via the
+  `ct state established,related accept` rule
+- **(c)** ICMPv6 echo-request is **accepted** (ping6 reachability)
+- **(d)** A drop-in `.nft` file under `/etc/fips/fips.d/` adds an
+  allowlisted port and that port is **accepted**
+
+A drop-counter check after case (a) confirms the connection was
+actively DROP'd by the fips chain (not silently unrouted).
+
+## Topology
+
+Two FIPS nodes peered over UDP on a Docker bridge network:
+
+| Container               | Hostname | docker IPv4   | Firewall |
+|-------------------------|----------|---------------|----------|
+| `fips-fw-container-a`   | `host-a` | 172.32.0.10   | none (probe) |
+| `fips-fw-container-b`   | `host-b` | 172.32.0.11   | `fips.nft` + drop-in |
+
+`node-b` mounts the production `packaging/common/fips.nft` read-only at
+`/etc/fips/fips.nft`, plus a drop-in at `/etc/fips/fips.d/services.nft`
+containing `tcp dport 22 accept`. `node-a` is unfirewalled and serves
+as the probe origin.
+
+Both containers run the unified test image's `default` mode, which
+starts dnsmasq + sshd (port 22) + iperf3 + python http.server on
+port 8000 + the FIPS daemon.
+
+## fips-firewall.service activation
+
+The production unit's ExecStart is:
+
+```text
+ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nft -f /etc/fips/fips.nft
+```
+
+The unified test image does not run systemd, so `test.sh` invokes the
+same `nft -f` command directly inside `node-b` after fips0 is up and
+peering has converged. The deb-install harness covers the systemd
+unit-enablement path under real systemd separately.
+
+## Run
+
+Build the Linux binaries and test image:
+
+```bash
+./testing/scripts/build.sh --no-docker
+```
+
+Run the suite:
+
+```bash
+./testing/firewall/test.sh
+```
+
+`test.sh` regenerates fixtures automatically before starting Docker.
+Use `--skip-build` to reuse the existing release binaries. Use
+`--keep-up` to leave the containers running for inspection.
+
+## Expected output shape
+
+```text
+=== Generating firewall fixtures
+=== Starting firewall harness
+=== Waiting for fips0 on both nodes
+=== Waiting for peer convergence
+=== Resolving fips0 addresses
+  node-a: fd97:...
+  node-b: fd97:...
+=== Activating fips-firewall on fips-fw-container-b
+PASS: fips-fw-container-b: fips.nft baseline + drop-in loaded
+=== Case (c): ICMPv6 echo-request to firewalled node
+PASS: (c) ICMPv6 ping node-a → node-b accepted
+=== Case (a): unallowed inbound TCP/8000 from node-a → node-b
+PASS: (a) inbound TCP/8000 blocked (curl rc=28)
+=== Case (b): node-b initiates outbound TCP, expects reply via conntrack
+PASS: (b) outbound from node-b got HTTP 200 via conntrack reply path
+=== Case (d): drop-in allowlisted TCP/22 from node-a → node-b
+PASS: (d) drop-in allowlisted TCP/22 reachable
+=== Drop counter incremented (case a should have ticked it)
+PASS: drop counter = N (case a was actually dropped, not just unrouted)
+=== Firewall integration test passed
+```
+
+## Inspect the loaded ruleset
+
+```bash
+docker exec fips-fw-container-b nft list table inet fips
+```
+
+## Stop and clean up
+
+```bash
+docker compose -f testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml down
+```
+
+## Generated fixture location
+
+`testing/firewall/generated-configs/` (gitignored).
diff --git a/testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml b/testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b1b1c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/firewall/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+networks:
+  fw-net:
+    driver: bridge
+    ipam:
+      config:
+        - subnet: 172.32.0.0/24
+
+x-fips-common: &fips-common
+  build:
+    context: ../docker
+  image: fips-test:latest
+  entrypoint: ["/usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh"]
+  cap_add:
+    - NET_ADMIN
+    - NET_RAW
+  devices:
+    - /dev/net/tun:/dev/net/tun
+  sysctls:
+    - net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=0
+  restart: "no"
+  environment:
+    - FIPS_TEST_MODE=default
+    - RUST_LOG=info,fips::node=debug
+
+services:
+  service-a:
+    <<: *fips-common
+    container_name: fips-fw-container-a
+    hostname: host-a
+    volumes:
+      - ../docker/resolv.conf:/etc/resolv.conf:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-a/hosts:/etc/fips/hosts:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-a/fips.yaml:/etc/fips/fips.yaml:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-a/fips.key:/etc/fips/fips.key:ro
+    networks:
+      fw-net:
+        ipv4_address: 172.32.0.10
+
+  service-b:
+    <<: *fips-common
+    container_name: fips-fw-container-b
+    hostname: host-b
+    volumes:
+      - ../docker/resolv.conf:/etc/resolv.conf:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-b/hosts:/etc/fips/hosts:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-b/fips.yaml:/etc/fips/fips.yaml:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-b/fips.key:/etc/fips/fips.key:ro
+      - ../../packaging/common/fips.nft:/etc/fips/fips.nft:ro
+      - ./generated-configs/node-b/fips.d:/etc/fips/fips.d:ro
+    networks:
+      fw-net:
+        ipv4_address: 172.32.0.11
diff --git a/testing/firewall/generate-configs.sh b/testing/firewall/generate-configs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1fca1de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/firewall/generate-configs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Generate fixtures for the firewall integration test.
+#
+# Two FIPS nodes (a, b). node-b mounts the production fips.nft baseline
+# plus a single drop-in (.nft) under /etc/fips/fips.d/ that allows TCP
+# port 22 inbound — the test asserts this is honored. node-a is a
+# probe-only node with no firewall.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+GENERATED_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/generated-configs"
+
+# Deterministic test identities (mirrors the acl-allowlist style).
+NPUB_A="npub1sjlh2c3x9w7kjsqg2ay080n2lff2uvt325vpan33ke34rn8l5jcqawh57m"
+KEY_A="0102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f20"
+
+NPUB_B="npub1tdwa4vjrjl33pcjdpf2t4p027nl86xrx24g4d3avg4vwvayr3g8qhd84le"
+KEY_B="b102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1fb0"
+
+write_file() {
+    local path="$1"
+    mkdir -p "$(dirname "$path")"
+    cat > "$path"
+}
+
+write_hosts_file() {
+    local node="$1"
+    write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/$node/hosts" <<EOF
+node-a $NPUB_A
+node-b $NPUB_B
+EOF
+}
+
+echo "Generating firewall fixtures..."
+rm -rf "$GENERATED_DIR"
+
+# ── node-a ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/node-a/fips.yaml" <<EOF
+node:
+  identity:
+    persistent: true
+
+tun:
+  enabled: true
+  name: fips0
+  mtu: 1280
+
+dns:
+  enabled: true
+
+transports:
+  udp:
+    bind_addr: "0.0.0.0:2121"
+
+peers:
+  - npub: "$NPUB_B"
+    alias: "node-b"
+    addresses:
+      - transport: udp
+        addr: "172.32.0.11:2121"
+    connect_policy: auto_connect
+EOF
+
+write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/node-a/fips.key" <<EOF
+$KEY_A
+EOF
+
+# ── node-b ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/node-b/fips.yaml" <<EOF
+node:
+  identity:
+    persistent: true
+
+tun:
+  enabled: true
+  name: fips0
+  mtu: 1280
+
+dns:
+  enabled: true
+
+transports:
+  udp:
+    bind_addr: "0.0.0.0:2121"
+
+peers:
+  - npub: "$NPUB_A"
+    alias: "node-a"
+    addresses:
+      - transport: udp
+        addr: "172.32.0.10:2121"
+    connect_policy: auto_connect
+EOF
+
+write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/node-b/fips.key" <<EOF
+$KEY_B
+EOF
+
+# ── node-b drop-in: allow inbound TCP/22 (Case d) ─────────────────────
+# The simplest possible operator-supplied allowance, matching the
+# fips.nft header example. The test asserts this rule unblocks an
+# otherwise-DROP'd TCP/22 SYN.
+write_file "$GENERATED_DIR/node-b/fips.d/services.nft" <<'EOF'
+tcp dport 22 accept
+EOF
+
+write_hosts_file node-a
+write_hosts_file node-b
+
+echo "Firewall fixtures written to $GENERATED_DIR"
diff --git a/testing/firewall/test.sh b/testing/firewall/test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..75c758f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/firewall/test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,247 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Integration test for the fips0 nftables baseline (packaging/common/fips.nft).
+#
+# Asserts the four behaviors documented in the fips.nft header:
+#   (a) unallowed inbound on fips0  → DROP
+#   (b) outbound-initiated reply    → conntrack established/related ACCEPT
+#   (c) ICMPv6 echo-request         → ACCEPT
+#   (d) drop-in allowlisted port    → ACCEPT
+#
+# fips-firewall.service activation: the unit's ExecStart is
+# `/usr/sbin/nft -f /etc/fips/fips.nft`. The test image does not run
+# systemd, so this script invokes the same nft command directly inside
+# the container after fips0 is up. The full deb-install harness covers
+# the systemd unit-enablement path separately.
+#
+# Usage: ./test.sh [--skip-build] [--keep-up]
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+TESTING_DIR="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+COMPOSE_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/docker-compose.yml"
+GENERATE_CONFIGS="$SCRIPT_DIR/generate-configs.sh"
+
+CONTAINER_A="fips-fw-container-a"
+CONTAINER_B="fips-fw-container-b"
+
+NPUB_A="npub1sjlh2c3x9w7kjsqg2ay080n2lff2uvt325vpan33ke34rn8l5jcqawh57m"
+NPUB_B="npub1tdwa4vjrjl33pcjdpf2t4p027nl86xrx24g4d3avg4vwvayr3g8qhd84le"
+
+# Port not present in any drop-in. Used for case (a) to assert DROP.
+UNALLOWED_PORT=8000
+# Port present in node-b's fips.d drop-in. Used for case (d) to assert ACCEPT.
+ALLOWED_PORT=22
+# Port that node-a listens on for the conntrack reply test (case b).
+OUTBOUND_TARGET_PORT=8000
+
+SKIP_BUILD=false
+KEEP_UP=false
+
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+        --skip-build) SKIP_BUILD=true; shift ;;
+        --keep-up) KEEP_UP=true; shift ;;
+        *) echo "Unknown option: $1" >&2; exit 1 ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+cleanup() {
+    if [ "$KEEP_UP" = false ]; then
+        docker compose -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" down >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+    fi
+}
+
+trap cleanup EXIT
+
+log() {
+    echo "=== $*"
+}
+
+pass() {
+    echo "PASS: $*"
+}
+
+fail() {
+    echo "FAIL: $*" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+# Wait for fips0 to exist and have a global IPv6 address inside container.
+wait_for_fips0() {
+    local container="$1"
+    local timeout="${2:-30}"
+    for _ in $(seq 1 "$timeout"); do
+        if docker exec "$container" ip -6 addr show fips0 2>/dev/null \
+            | grep -qE 'inet6 fd[0-9a-f]+:'; then
+            return 0
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    fail "$container fips0 did not come up within ${timeout}s"
+}
+
+# Wait for the peer count on a container to reach the expected value.
+wait_for_peers_exact() {
+    local container="$1"
+    local expected_count="$2"
+    local timeout="${3:-30}"
+    for _ in $(seq 1 "$timeout"); do
+        local count
+        count=$(docker exec "$container" fipsctl show peers 2>/dev/null \
+            | python3 -c 'import json,sys; data=json.load(sys.stdin); print(sum(1 for p in data.get("peers", []) if p.get("connectivity") == "connected"))' 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
+        if [ "$count" -eq "$expected_count" ]; then
+            return 0
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+    done
+    fail "$container did not reach $expected_count connected peers in ${timeout}s"
+}
+
+# Resolve `<npub>.fips` inside a container and print the AAAA answer.
+resolve_fips_addr() {
+    local container="$1"
+    local npub="$2"
+    docker exec "$container" getent ahostsv6 "${npub}.fips" \
+        | awk '{print $1; exit}'
+}
+
+# Activate the fips firewall baseline inside a container. Mirrors the
+# fips-firewall.service ExecStart.
+activate_firewall() {
+    local container="$1"
+    docker exec "$container" nft -f /etc/fips/fips.nft
+    # Sanity: the table must now exist.
+    if ! docker exec "$container" nft list table inet fips >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        fail "$container: inet fips table not present after nft -f"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Verify default-policy and key chain rules look right.
+assert_baseline_loaded() {
+    local container="$1"
+    local listing
+    listing="$(docker exec "$container" nft list table inet fips)"
+    # Default-deny is achieved via the trailing `counter drop` (chain
+    # policy is `accept` for return-on-non-fips0 to work safely).
+    if ! printf '%s' "$listing" | grep -q 'counter packets'; then
+        fail "$container: counter drop rule missing from inet fips"
+    fi
+    if ! printf '%s' "$listing" | grep -q 'iifname != "fips0" return'; then
+        fail "$container: non-fips0 early return rule missing"
+    fi
+    if ! printf '%s' "$listing" | grep -q 'ct state established,related accept'; then
+        fail "$container: conntrack established,related rule missing"
+    fi
+    if ! printf '%s' "$listing" | grep -q 'icmpv6 type echo-request accept'; then
+        fail "$container: ICMPv6 echo-request rule missing"
+    fi
+    if ! printf '%s' "$listing" | grep -q 'tcp dport 22 accept'; then
+        fail "$container: drop-in tcp dport 22 rule missing (fips.d not included?)"
+    fi
+    pass "$container: fips.nft baseline + drop-in loaded"
+}
+
+# ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+if [ "$SKIP_BUILD" = false ]; then
+    log "Building Linux test binaries"
+    "$TESTING_DIR/scripts/build.sh" --no-docker
+fi
+
+log "Generating firewall fixtures"
+"$GENERATE_CONFIGS"
+
+log "Starting firewall harness"
+docker compose -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" down >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+docker compose -f "$COMPOSE_FILE" up -d --build
+
+log "Waiting for fips0 on both nodes"
+wait_for_fips0 "$CONTAINER_A" 40
+wait_for_fips0 "$CONTAINER_B" 40
+
+log "Waiting for peer convergence"
+wait_for_peers_exact "$CONTAINER_A" 1 40
+wait_for_peers_exact "$CONTAINER_B" 1 40
+
+log "Resolving fips0 addresses"
+ADDR_A="$(resolve_fips_addr "$CONTAINER_A" "$NPUB_A")"
+ADDR_B="$(resolve_fips_addr "$CONTAINER_B" "$NPUB_B")"
+[ -z "$ADDR_A" ] && fail "could not resolve node-a fips0 address"
+[ -z "$ADDR_B" ] && fail "could not resolve node-b fips0 address"
+echo "  node-a: $ADDR_A"
+echo "  node-b: $ADDR_B"
+
+log "Activating fips-firewall on $CONTAINER_B"
+activate_firewall "$CONTAINER_B"
+assert_baseline_loaded "$CONTAINER_B"
+
+# ── (c) Pre-firewall sanity: confirm both ports are reachable BEFORE ─
+#       the firewall is up would be ideal, but we activated already to
+#       keep the test deterministic. Instead we run case (c) ICMPv6
+#       first, since it's the most basic reachability check.
+
+log "Case (c): ICMPv6 echo-request to firewalled node"
+if docker exec "$CONTAINER_A" ping6 -c 3 -W 5 "$ADDR_B" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    pass "(c) ICMPv6 ping node-a → node-b accepted"
+else
+    fail "(c) ICMPv6 ping node-a → node-b should succeed but was dropped"
+fi
+
+# ── (a) Unallowed inbound is dropped ───────────────────────────────────
+log "Case (a): unallowed inbound TCP/${UNALLOWED_PORT} from node-a → node-b"
+# python3 http.server is already listening on :: per entrypoint default mode.
+# Use curl --max-time 5 — must time out (exit 28) or otherwise fail.
+set +e
+docker exec "$CONTAINER_A" curl -6 --silent --output /dev/null \
+    --max-time 5 "http://[${ADDR_B}]:${UNALLOWED_PORT}/"
+RC=$?
+set -e
+if [ "$RC" -eq 0 ]; then
+    fail "(a) connection to ${UNALLOWED_PORT} succeeded but should have been DROP'd (rc=0)"
+fi
+pass "(a) inbound TCP/${UNALLOWED_PORT} blocked (curl rc=$RC)"
+
+# ── (b) Outbound-initiated flow + conntrack reply ──────────────────────
+log "Case (b): node-b initiates outbound TCP, expects reply via conntrack"
+# node-b → node-a:8000 on the fips overlay. node-a has http.server on
+# [::]:8000 and is NOT firewalled, so this is purely a test of node-b's
+# outbound + ct state established,related path on the way back.
+set +e
+docker exec "$CONTAINER_B" curl -6 --silent --max-time 5 \
+    --output /dev/null --write-out '%{http_code}' \
+    "http://[${ADDR_A}]:${OUTBOUND_TARGET_PORT}/" >/tmp/fw_b_rc 2>/dev/null
+RC=$?
+set -e
+HTTP_CODE="$(cat /tmp/fw_b_rc 2>/dev/null || true)"
+rm -f /tmp/fw_b_rc
+if [ "$RC" -ne 0 ]; then
+    fail "(b) outbound from node-b failed (curl rc=$RC, http=$HTTP_CODE) — conntrack reply path broken"
+fi
+if [ "$HTTP_CODE" != "200" ]; then
+    fail "(b) outbound returned http=$HTTP_CODE (expected 200) — reply blocked?"
+fi
+pass "(b) outbound from node-b got HTTP $HTTP_CODE via conntrack reply path"
+
+# ── (d) Drop-in allowlisted port accepted ──────────────────────────────
+log "Case (d): drop-in allowlisted TCP/${ALLOWED_PORT} from node-a → node-b"
+# nc -zv -w3: zero-I/O scan, verbose, 3-second timeout. Exit 0 = port
+# open and reachable. The container's sshd is listening on [::]:22 by
+# default per the test entrypoint.
+if docker exec "$CONTAINER_A" nc -6 -z -v -w 3 "$ADDR_B" "$ALLOWED_PORT" 2>&1 \
+    | grep -qE 'succeeded|open'; then
+    pass "(d) drop-in allowlisted TCP/${ALLOWED_PORT} reachable"
+else
+    fail "(d) drop-in allowlisted TCP/${ALLOWED_PORT} should be reachable but was blocked"
+fi
+
+# ── Drop-counter sanity ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+log "Drop counter incremented (case a should have ticked it)"
+DROP_PKTS="$(docker exec "$CONTAINER_B" nft list table inet fips \
+    | awk '/counter packets/ {print $3; exit}')"
+if [ -z "${DROP_PKTS:-}" ] || [ "$DROP_PKTS" -lt 1 ]; then
+    fail "drop counter is $DROP_PKTS — case (a) should have produced drops"
+fi
+pass "drop counter = $DROP_PKTS (case a was actually dropped, not just unrouted)"
+
+log "Firewall integration test passed"