diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 701be2e..2865ccc 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/metric v1.45.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/metric v1.45.0
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.54.0
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.47.0
 )
 
 require (
@@ -47,7 +48,6 @@ require (
 	golang.org/x/mod v0.38.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.57.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sync v0.22.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.47.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/text v0.40.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.48.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.11 // indirect
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 68c66a4..77cd693 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -67,8 +67,6 @@ github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1 h1:UQB4HGPB6osV0SQTLymcB4TgvyWu6ZyliaW0t
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.14.1/go.mod h1:MaRKkUm5W0goXpeCfT7UZI6fk/L7L7so1lCWt35ZSgc=
 github.com/sower-proxy/conns v0.1.1 h1:9VPVW+sFc/y/IvXbUQTbXNSPF3I+1IG5mbrQTt5bdTE=
 github.com/sower-proxy/conns v0.1.1/go.mod h1:p3ZM/8MolzW4TN0LaiPJnwnhhif3y9sBi2vQEWHvwhg=
-github.com/sower-proxy/deferlog/v2 v2.1.4 h1:Vo/iVWGw3Su625RP2RIy4mE5FlfRdfrgP7kwOWNOyec=
-github.com/sower-proxy/deferlog/v2 v2.1.4/go.mod h1:mdLrL/bxiTNhxeRLtRgKAecQddugI0iJ0ArC3yDwVSw=
 github.com/sower-proxy/deferlog/v2 v2.1.5 h1:3MF21JmCbIOI7ROWqwfBDDX4Y6g3EkDp4p7TZxJFyyg=
 github.com/sower-proxy/deferlog/v2 v2.1.5/go.mod h1:mdLrL/bxiTNhxeRLtRgKAecQddugI0iJ0ArC3yDwVSw=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.11.1 h1:7s2iGBzp5EwR7/aIZr8ao5+dra3wiQyKjjFuvgVKu7U=
diff --git a/pkg/dhcp/dhcp.go b/pkg/dhcp/dhcp.go
index 68a88e7..e98d8a7 100644
--- a/pkg/dhcp/dhcp.go
+++ b/pkg/dhcp/dhcp.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package dhcp
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
@@ -40,19 +41,43 @@ func GetDNSServer() ([]string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 	defer conn.Close()
-	conn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(3 * time.Second))
+	// Broadcasting to 255.255.255.255 requires SO_BROADCAST on most stacks.
+	if c, ok := conn.(*net.UDPConn); ok {
+		if raw, err := c.SyscallConn(); err == nil {
+			_ = raw.Control(func(fd uintptr) {
+				_ = setBroadcast(int(fd))
+			})
+		}
+	}
+	_ = conn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(3 * time.Second))
 
 	if _, err := conn.WriteTo([]byte(pack), broadcastAddr); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("write broadcast: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// The socket may receive packets from other DHCP transactions (the
+	// system dhclient shares port 68 via SO_REUSEPORT) or spoofed LAN
+	// traffic; accept only the OFFER that belongs to this transaction.
 	buf := make([]byte, 1500 /*MTU*/)
-	n, _, err := conn.ReadFrom(buf)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read dhcp offer: %w", err)
+	for {
+		n, _, err := conn.ReadFrom(buf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("read dhcp offer: %w", err)
+		}
+		pack = dhcp4.Packet(buf[:n])
+		if !bytes.Equal(pack.XId(), xid) {
+			continue // another transaction's packet
+		}
+		if pack.OpCode() != dhcp4.BootReply {
+			continue
+		}
+		opts := pack.ParseOptions()
+		if mt := opts[dhcp4.OptionDHCPMessageType]; len(mt) == 0 || mt[0] != byte(dhcp4.Offer) {
+			continue
+		}
+		break
 	}
 
-	pack = dhcp4.Packet(buf[:n])
 	dnsBytes := pack.ParseOptions()[dhcp4.OptionDomainNameServer]
 	if len(dnsBytes) < 4 || len(dnsBytes)%4 != 0 {
 		return nil, errors.New("invalid DNS setting in upstream network device")
diff --git a/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_unix.go b/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_unix.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1c446e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_unix.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+//go:build !windows
+
+package dhcp
+
+import "golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+
+// setBroadcast enables SO_BROADCAST so the DHCP discover broadcast to
+// 255.255.255.255 is delivered on stacks that require the explicit option.
+func setBroadcast(fd int) error {
+	return unix.SetsockoptInt(fd, unix.SOL_SOCKET, unix.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_windows.go b/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_windows.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db36d9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/dhcp/set_broadcast_windows.go
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+//go:build windows
+
+package dhcp
+
+import "golang.org/x/sys/windows"
+
+// setBroadcast enables SO_BROADCAST; Winsock requires it for broadcasts.
+func setBroadcast(fd int) error {
+	return windows.SetsockoptInt(windows.Handle(fd), windows.SOL_SOCKET, windows.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/suffixtree/suffix_tree.go b/pkg/suffixtree/suffix_tree.go
index 75bb7d6..fc27949 100644
--- a/pkg/suffixtree/suffix_tree.go
+++ b/pkg/suffixtree/suffix_tree.go
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ func (n *node) string(prefix, indent string) (out string) {
 }
 
 func (n *Node) trim(item string) string {
-	return strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSuffix(item, n.sep))
+	// Trim every trailing separator so a rule with repeated dots (dirty
+	// remote rule files) cannot build an unreachable empty-label subtree.
+	return strings.ToLower(strings.TrimRight(item, n.sep))
 }
 
 func (n *Node) Add(item string) {
diff --git a/pkg/upstreamtls/upstreamtls.go b/pkg/upstreamtls/upstreamtls.go
index 17d4774..458eaf7 100644
--- a/pkg/upstreamtls/upstreamtls.go
+++ b/pkg/upstreamtls/upstreamtls.go
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ type Options struct {
 	InsecureSkipVerify bool
 }
 
+// defaultHandshakeTimeout bounds the uTLS handshake when the dialer carries
+// no timeout of its own.
+const defaultHandshakeTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+
 func ValidateClientHello(value string) error {
 	_, err := clientHelloID(value)
 	return err
@@ -39,13 +43,17 @@ func Dial(dialer *net.Dialer, network, addr string, options Options) (net.Conn,
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	if timeout := dialer.Timeout; timeout > 0 {
-		if err := rawConn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(timeout)); err != nil {
-			rawConn.Close()
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("set tls deadline: %w", err)
-		}
-		defer rawConn.SetDeadline(time.Time{})
+	timeout := dialer.Timeout
+	if timeout <= 0 {
+		// A zero-timeout dialer must not handshake forever; fall back to a
+		// bounded default so the connection cannot hang open indefinitely.
+		timeout = defaultHandshakeTimeout
 	}
+	if err := rawConn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(timeout)); err != nil {
+		rawConn.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("set tls deadline: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer rawConn.SetDeadline(time.Time{})
 
 	serverName := options.ServerName
 	if serverName == "" {
diff --git a/transport/socks5/socks5.go b/transport/socks5/socks5.go
index 447f4ac..8d21633 100644
--- a/transport/socks5/socks5.go
+++ b/transport/socks5/socks5.go
@@ -57,6 +57,11 @@ func (s *Socks5) ReadRequest(conn net.Conn) (net.Addr, error) {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("read auth request: %w", err)
 		}
 		if !auth.IsValid() {
+			// RFC 1928 requires a METHOD=0xFF failure response so the peer
+			// does not hang waiting for a selection it will never get.
+			if err := binary.Write(conn, binary.BigEndian, authResp{VER: 5, METHOD: 0xFF}); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("write auth failure: %w", err)
+			}
 			return nil, errors.New("no acceptable auth method")
 		}
 
diff --git a/transport/sower/sower.go b/transport/sower/sower.go
index c29ef39..3d4c087 100644
--- a/transport/sower/sower.go
+++ b/transport/sower/sower.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package sower
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"crypto/hmac"
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
@@ -62,10 +63,25 @@ func (s *Sower) Unwrap(conn net.Conn) (net.Addr, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid command: %d", h.Cmd)
 	}
 
-	if h.Checksum != sumChecksum(h.TgtAddr, s.password) {
+	if h.Checksum != sumChecksum(h.Cmd, h.Port, h.TgtAddr, s.password) {
 		return nil, errors.New("auth fail")
 	}
 
+	// Reject hosts that could corrupt dialing or logging: empty targets and
+	// control characters are never legitimate.
+	idx := bytes.IndexByte(h.TgtAddr[:], 0)
+	if idx < 0 {
+		idx = len(h.TgtAddr)
+	}
+	if idx == 0 {
+		return nil, errors.New("empty target host")
+	}
+	for _, c := range h.TgtAddr[:idx] {
+		if c < 0x20 || c == 0x7f {
+			return nil, errors.New("target host contains control characters")
+		}
+	}
+
 	return h, nil
 }
 
@@ -76,11 +92,12 @@ func (s *Sower) Wrap(conn net.Conn, tgtHost string, tgtPort uint16) error {
 
 	tgtAddr := [maxDomainLength]byte{}
 	copy(tgtAddr[:len(tgtHost)], tgtHost)
+	cmd := byte(0x80)
 
 	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(make([]byte, 0, headSize))
 	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, &Head{
-		Cmd:      0x80,
-		Checksum: sumChecksum(tgtAddr, s.password),
+		Cmd:      cmd,
+		Checksum: sumChecksum(cmd, tgtPort, tgtAddr, s.password),
 		Port:     tgtPort,
 		TgtAddr:  tgtAddr,
 	}); err != nil {
@@ -92,15 +109,17 @@ func (s *Sower) Wrap(conn net.Conn, tgtHost string, tgtPort uint16) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func sumChecksum(target [maxDomainLength]byte, password []byte) uint64 {
-	h := sha256.New()
-	h.Write(target[:])
-	h.Write(password)
-	var checksum [sha256.Size]byte
-	h.Sum(checksum[:0])
-	// Take a fixed 64-bit window of the digest. binary.Uvarint would only
-	// consume bytes until the first continuation bit is clear (typically the
-	// first byte, ~50% of the time), collapsing the checksum to 7 bits of
-	// entropy and making the auth check brute-forceable.
-	return binary.BigEndian.Uint64(checksum[:8])
+// sumChecksum authenticates the whole frame: command, port, and target are
+// all covered, so a man-in-the-middle on a plaintext link cannot retarget a
+// captured frame to a different port without breaking the check. HMAC-SHA256
+// keeps the password out of the hashed message (length-extension resistant)
+// and off the wire in a non-invertible form.
+func sumChecksum(cmd byte, port uint16, target [maxDomainLength]byte, password []byte) uint64 {
+	mac := hmac.New(sha256.New, password)
+	mac.Write([]byte{cmd})
+	var portBuf [2]byte
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(portBuf[:], port)
+	mac.Write(portBuf[:])
+	mac.Write(target[:])
+	return binary.BigEndian.Uint64(mac.Sum(nil)[:8])
 }
diff --git a/transport/sower/sower_test.go b/transport/sower/sower_test.go
index 4bf0ca9..69a58d5 100644
--- a/transport/sower/sower_test.go
+++ b/transport/sower/sower_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func TestUnwrapReadsFullHeader(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
 	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, &Head{
 		Cmd:      0x80,
-		Checksum: sumChecksum(target, []byte("123")),
+		Checksum: sumChecksum(0x80, 443, target, []byte("123")),
 		Port:     443,
 		TgtAddr:  target,
 	}); err != nil {