diff --git a/misc/smbharden b/misc/smbharden
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/misc/smbharden
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# harden_samba_competition.sh
+#
+# Competition-safe Samba hardening for Ubuntu (Cowbuntu SMB server).
+# - Preserves service availability (minimize scoring outages)
+# - Restricts SMB to internal network
+# - Disables SMB1 + weak auth fallbacks
+# - Disables guest/anonymous
+# - Enables signing; encryption optional (toggle)
+# - Adds basic logging + fail2ban
+# - Adds UFW rules (if UFW present)
+#
+# Usage:
+#   sudo bash harden_samba_competition.sh
+#
+# Optional env overrides:
+#   ALLOW_SUBNET="192.168.1.0/24" ENCRYPT_MODE="desired" sudo -E bash harden_samba_competition.sh
+#
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# -----------------------------
+# User-tunable settings
+# -----------------------------
+ALLOW_SUBNET="${ALLOW_SUBNET:-192.168.1.0/24}"   # competition internal subnet
+ENCRYPT_MODE="${ENCRYPT_MODE:-desired}"          # desired|required|off
+SMB_MIN="${SMB_MIN:-SMB2}"
+SMB_MAX="${SMB_MAX:-SMB3}"
+CONF="/etc/samba/smb.conf"
+STAMP="$(date +%F_%H%M%S)"
+BACKUP="/root/smb.conf.${STAMP}.bak"
+DROPIN_DIR="/etc/samba/smb.conf.d"
+DROPIN_FILE="${DROPIN_DIR}/99-hardening.conf"
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Helpers
+# -----------------------------
+log() { echo -e "[+] $*"; }
+warn() { echo -e "[!] $*" >&2; }
+die() { echo -e "[x] $*" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+need_root() {
+  [[ "${EUID}" -eq 0 ]] || die "Run as root: sudo bash $0"
+}
+
+have_cmd() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; }
+
+# Safely ensure a setting exists inside a given ini section in a file.
+# We intentionally write hardening settings into a drop-in file to avoid mangling smb.conf.
+write_dropin() {
+  mkdir -p "${DROPIN_DIR}"
+  cat > "${DROPIN_FILE}" <<EOF
+# Auto-generated hardening (competition-safe): ${STAMP}
+# This file is included from smb.conf (we add include = ... once).
+# Remove this file and restart smbd to revert hardening quickly.
+
+[global]
+  # ---- Protocol hardening ----
+  server min protocol = ${SMB_MIN}
+  server max protocol = ${SMB_MAX}
+
+  # ---- Authentication hardening ----
+  lanman auth = no
+  ntlm auth = no
+  client lanman auth = no
+  client ntlmv2 auth = yes
+
+  # ---- Guest / anonymous hardening ----
+  map to guest = never
+  restrict anonymous = 2
+  usershare allow guests = no
+
+  # ---- MITM protections ----
+  server signing = mandatory
+
+  # ---- Encryption toggle ----
+  smb encrypt = ${ENCRYPT_MODE}
+
+  # ---- Safer defaults ----
+  unix extensions = no
+  disable spoolss = yes
+
+  # ---- Logging ----
+  log level = 1 auth:3
+  logging = file
+  max log size = 1000
+
+  # ---- Network allow/deny (extra layer beyond firewall) ----
+  hosts allow = ${ALLOW_SUBNET}
+  hosts deny  = 0.0.0.0/0
+EOF
+}
+
+ensure_include_dropin() {
+  # If smb.conf already includes smb.conf.d, don't duplicate.
+  if grep -qiE '^\s*include\s*=\s*/etc/samba/smb\.conf\.d/\*\.conf' "${CONF}"; then
+    log "smb.conf already includes ${DROPIN_DIR}/*.conf"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  # Back up once, then append include at end (lowest risk change).
+  if [[ ! -f "${BACKUP}" ]]; then
+    cp -a "${CONF}" "${BACKUP}"
+    log "Backed up ${CONF} -> ${BACKUP}"
+  fi
+
+  echo "" >> "${CONF}"
+  echo "# Include drop-in configs (competition hardening)" >> "${CONF}"
+  echo "include = ${DROPIN_DIR}/*.conf" >> "${CONF}"
+  log "Added include directive to smb.conf"
+}
+
+install_packages() {
+  log "Installing required packages (samba, smbclient, ufw, fail2ban)..."
+  export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+  apt-get update -y
+  apt-get install -y samba smbclient ufw fail2ban
+}
+
+validate_config() {
+  log "Validating Samba configuration with testparm..."
+  testparm -s >/dev/null
+}
+
+restart_services() {
+  log "Restarting Samba services..."
+  systemctl restart smbd || die "Failed to restart smbd"
+  systemctl restart nmbd || warn "nmbd restart failed (may be disabled on your setup)"
+  systemctl enable smbd >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+  systemctl enable nmbd >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+}
+
+configure_ufw() {
+  if ! have_cmd ufw; then
+    warn "UFW not installed; skipping firewall step."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  log "Configuring UFW to allow SMB only from ${ALLOW_SUBNET}..."
+  # Allow from internal subnet
+  ufw allow from "${ALLOW_SUBNET}" to any port 445 proto tcp >/dev/null
+  ufw allow from "${ALLOW_SUBNET}" to any port 139 proto tcp >/dev/null
+
+  # Deny everyone else (explicit)
+  ufw deny 445/tcp >/dev/null || true
+  ufw deny 139/tcp >/dev/null || true
+
+  # Enable if inactive (safe promptless enable)
+  if ufw status | grep -qi "Status: inactive"; then
+    ufw --force enable >/dev/null
+  fi
+
+  log "UFW status:"
+  ufw status verbose || true
+}
+
+configure_fail2ban() {
+  if ! have_cmd fail2ban-client; then
+    warn "fail2ban not installed; skipping brute-force protection."
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  log "Configuring fail2ban for Samba auth failures..."
+  # Create a minimal jail override for Samba.
+  # On Ubuntu, Samba auth failures typically appear in /var/log/samba/log.* and sometimes syslog.
+  cat > /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/samba.conf <<'EOF'
+[samba]
+enabled = true
+port    = 445,139
+filter  = samba
+logpath = /var/log/samba/log.*
+maxretry = 5
+findtime = 10m
+bantime  = 1h
+EOF
+
+  systemctl restart fail2ban
+  log "fail2ban samba jail status (if available):"
+  fail2ban-client status samba || true
+}
+
+quick_smoke_test() {
+  log "Quick smoke test: list shares as current user context (may prompt for password if run without -N)..."
+  # We avoid passing passwords in scripts. This checks service responsiveness, not auth.
+  smbclient -L localhost -N >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
+    log "Anonymous share listing worked (may be limited) - service responds." || \
+    log "Anonymous listing blocked or requires auth (fine) - service still needs authenticated test."
+}
+
+show_next_manual_tests() {
+  cat <<EOF
+
+============================================================
+NEXT MANUAL VERIFICATION (DO THESE RIGHT NOW)
+============================================================
+1) Confirm Samba is listening:
+   ss -tulnp | egrep '(:445|:139)'
+
+2) Confirm config is clean:
+   testparm -s
+
+3) Confirm your real share still works (authenticated):
+   smbclient -L localhost -U <your_user>
+   smbclient //localhost/<YourShare> -U <your_user>
+
+4) If Windows is in scope:
+   On a Windows host: \\\\$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')\\<YourShare>
+
+Notes:
+- We intentionally did NOT change user passwords (policy + scoring safety).
+- If ENCRYPT_MODE=required breaks a legacy client, re-run with:
+    ENCRYPT_MODE=desired sudo -E bash harden_samba_competition.sh
+============================================================
+
+EOF
+}
+
+# -----------------------------
+# Main
+# -----------------------------
+need_root
+
+log "Starting competition-safe Samba hardening..."
+log "Allow subnet: ${ALLOW_SUBNET}"
+log "Encryption mode: ${ENCRYPT_MODE} (recommended: desired first, then required if clients support it)"
+
+install_packages
+
+# Drop-in hardening config + include line
+write_dropin
+ensure_include_dropin
+
+# Validate before restarting (prevents scoring outage from bad config)
+validate_config
+restart_services
+
+# Firewall + brute-force protection
+configure_ufw
+configure_fail2ban
+
+# Final validation
+validate_config
+quick_smoke_test
+
+log "Hardening applied successfully."
+log "Backup saved at: ${BACKUP}"
+log "Hardening drop-in: ${DROPIN_FILE}"
+
+show_next_manual_tests