diff --git a/crates/lanspread-peer/src/services/discovery.rs b/crates/lanspread-peer/src/services/discovery.rs
index ea31518..e0ef382 100644
--- a/crates/lanspread-peer/src/services/discovery.rs
+++ b/crates/lanspread-peer/src/services/discovery.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,11 @@ use crate::{
 };
 
 const MAX_ACTIVE_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES: usize = 64;
+/// Upper bound on active-or-cooling candidates advertised from one source IP.
+/// mDNS lets a single LAN host claim arbitrarily many peer IDs and ports, so
+/// without this bound one host could occupy every discovery slot and starve
+/// genuinely new peers. Legitimate hosts run one peer, occasionally a few.
+const MAX_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES_PER_SOURCE_IP: usize = 8;
 const MAX_PENDING_MDNS_SERVICES: usize = 64;
 const DISCOVERY_CANDIDATE_COOLDOWN: Duration = Duration::from_secs(5);
 
@@ -60,6 +65,21 @@ impl RecentCandidates {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Counts unexpired recent candidates from `ip` that are not also in the
+    /// active set, so the caller can sum both without double counting.
+    fn count_from_ip_outside(
+        &mut self,
+        ip: std::net::IpAddr,
+        active: &HashSet<PeerEndpoint>,
+        now: tokio::time::Instant,
+    ) -> usize {
+        self.expire(now);
+        self.entries
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|(endpoint, _)| endpoint.addr.ip() == ip && !active.contains(endpoint))
+            .count()
+    }
+
     #[cfg(test)]
     fn len(&self) -> usize {
         self.entries.len()
@@ -297,6 +317,23 @@ fn candidate_conflicts(active: &HashSet<PeerEndpoint>, candidate: PeerEndpoint)
         .any(|endpoint| endpoint.peer_id == candidate.peer_id || endpoint.addr == candidate.addr)
 }
 
+/// Returns whether admitting `candidate` would exceed the per-source-IP
+/// discovery budget across active negotiations and cooling-down attempts.
+fn source_ip_is_saturated(
+    active: &HashSet<PeerEndpoint>,
+    recent: &mut RecentCandidates,
+    candidate: PeerEndpoint,
+    now: tokio::time::Instant,
+) -> bool {
+    let ip = candidate.addr.ip();
+    let active_from_ip = active
+        .iter()
+        .filter(|endpoint| endpoint.addr.ip() == ip)
+        .count();
+    active_from_ip + recent.count_from_ip_outside(ip, active, now)
+        >= MAX_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES_PER_SOURCE_IP
+}
+
 fn candidate_is_admissible(
     active: &HashSet<PeerEndpoint>,
     recent: &mut RecentCandidates,
@@ -305,6 +342,7 @@ fn candidate_is_admissible(
 ) -> bool {
     active.len() < MAX_ACTIVE_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES
         && !candidate_conflicts(active, candidate)
+        && !source_ip_is_saturated(active, recent, candidate, now)
         && recent.try_record(candidate, now)
 }
 
@@ -475,6 +513,7 @@ mod tests {
         DISCOVERY_CANDIDATE_COOLDOWN,
         DiscoveryWorker,
         MAX_ACTIVE_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES,
+        MAX_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES_PER_SOURCE_IP,
         MdnsPeerInfo,
         RecentCandidates,
         candidate_conflicts,
@@ -580,15 +619,72 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(recent.len(), 1);
     }
 
+    fn endpoint_at(seed: u8, ip: [u8; 4], port: u16) -> PeerEndpoint {
+        PeerEndpoint::new(PeerId::from_bytes([seed; 32]), SocketAddr::from((ip, port)))
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn one_source_ip_cannot_occupy_more_than_its_candidate_budget() {
+        let now = tokio::time::Instant::now();
+        let mut active = HashSet::new();
+        let mut recent = RecentCandidates::default();
+        let flood_ip = [192, 168, 1, 66];
+
+        // A single host rotating peer IDs and ports fills only its own budget.
+        for index in 0..MAX_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES_PER_SOURCE_IP {
+            let seed = u8::try_from(index + 1).expect("test index fits u8");
+            let candidate = endpoint_at(seed, flood_ip, 20000 + u16::from(seed));
+            assert!(candidate_is_admissible(
+                &active,
+                &mut recent,
+                candidate,
+                now
+            ));
+            active.insert(candidate);
+        }
+        assert!(!candidate_is_admissible(
+            &active,
+            &mut recent,
+            endpoint_at(100, flood_ip, 30000),
+            now
+        ));
+
+        // Other hosts are unaffected while the flood host is saturated.
+        assert!(candidate_is_admissible(
+            &active,
+            &mut recent,
+            endpoint_at(101, [192, 168, 1, 67], 42424),
+            now
+        ));
+
+        // Completed negotiations keep counting while they cool down ...
+        let completed = endpoint_at(1, flood_ip, 20001);
+        active.remove(&completed);
+        assert!(!candidate_is_admissible(
+            &active,
+            &mut recent,
+            endpoint_at(102, flood_ip, 30001),
+            now
+        ));
+        // ... and free the budget once the cooldown expires.
+        let after_cooldown = now + DISCOVERY_CANDIDATE_COOLDOWN;
+        assert!(candidate_is_admissible(
+            &active,
+            &mut recent,
+            endpoint_at(102, flood_ip, 30001),
+            after_cooldown
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn expiring_recent_entries_never_bypasses_the_independent_active_cap() {
         let now = tokio::time::Instant::now();
+        // Spread the candidates over distinct source hosts so the per-IP
+        // budget does not interfere with the global active cap under test.
         let mut active = (0..MAX_ACTIVE_DISCOVERY_CANDIDATES)
             .map(|index| {
-                endpoint(
-                    u8::try_from(index + 1).expect("test index fits u8"),
-                    15000 + u16::try_from(index).expect("test index fits u16"),
-                )
+                let seed = u8::try_from(index + 1).expect("test index fits u8");
+                endpoint_at(seed, [10, 0, seed, 1], 15000 + u16::from(seed))
             })
             .collect::<HashSet<_>>();
         let mut recent = RecentCandidates::default();
@@ -597,7 +693,7 @@ mod tests {
         }
 
         let after_cooldown = now + DISCOVERY_CANDIDATE_COOLDOWN;
-        let next = endpoint(100, 16000);
+        let next = endpoint_at(100, [10, 0, 100, 1], 16000);
         assert!(!candidate_is_admissible(
             &active,
             &mut recent,