diff --git a/tests/e2e/multinode/ipsec_test.go b/tests/e2e/multinode/ipsec_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8300de0c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/multinode/ipsec_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+//go:build e2e
+
+package multinode
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mulgadc/spinifex/tests/e2e/harness"
+)
+
+// runIPSec verifies OVN native IPsec is live on every node. Three checks:
+//
+//  1. OVS DB on each node carries the cert/key/CA pointers plus
+//     other_config:ipsec_encapsulation=true. This is what
+//     daemon.enableOVNIPSec writes; if any node lost it (rolling restart,
+//     manual ovs-vsctl unset, missing peer cert) the SAs below would
+//     silently drop to plaintext.
+//
+//  2. `ip xfrm state` on each node shows at least one AEAD SA negotiated
+//     in AES-GCM mode. ovs-monitor-ipsec drives strongSwan to bring SAs up
+//     against every peer ovn-controller has a Geneve tunnel to, so on a
+//     3-node mesh we expect 2N SAs per node (in+out per peer) — but the
+//     test only asserts >=1 to stay tolerant of ovs-monitor-ipsec startup
+//     ordering quirks.
+//
+//  3. Best-effort tcpdump for ESP (proto 50) traffic on the underlay.
+//     Logged only — geneve_sys_6081 may be idle during the capture window
+//     if no overlay VMs are running yet.
+//
+// Skips cleanly if the cluster was bootstrapped with --ipsec=false (no
+// other_config:ipsec_encapsulation key on the first node).
+func runIPSec(t *testing.T, fix *Fixture) {
+	harness.Phase(t, "Multinode — OVN Native IPsec")
+
+	ssh := harness.NewPeerSSH()
+	first := fix.Cluster.Nodes[0]
+
+	probeCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+	out, err := ssh.Run(probeCtx,
+		first.Addr,
+		"sudo ovs-vsctl --if-exists get Open_vSwitch . other_config:ipsec_encapsulation 2>/dev/null || true",
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("probe ovs-vsctl on %s: %v", first.Name, err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(string(out), "true") {
+		t.Skipf("IPsec not enabled on cluster (%s reports %q): skip", first.Name, strings.TrimSpace(string(out)))
+	}
+
+	harness.Step(t, "OVS DB carries cert pointers + ipsec_encapsulation=true on every node")
+	required := []string{"certificate=", "private_key=", "ca_cert=", "ipsec_encapsulation=\"true\""}
+	for _, n := range fix.Cluster.Nodes {
+		c, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+		raw, err := ssh.Run(c, n.Addr, "sudo ovs-vsctl get Open_vSwitch . other_config")
+		cancel()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%s ovs-vsctl get other_config: %v", n.Name, err)
+		}
+		s := strings.TrimSpace(string(raw))
+		for _, key := range required {
+			if !strings.Contains(s, key) {
+				t.Fatalf("%s OVS other_config missing %q: %s", n.Name, key, s)
+			}
+		}
+		harness.Detail(t, "node", n.Name, "other_config", s)
+	}
+
+	harness.Step(t, "xfrm SAs with AES-GCM established on every node")
+	harness.EventuallyErr(t, func() error {
+		for _, n := range fix.Cluster.Nodes {
+			c, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+			raw, err := ssh.Run(c, n.Addr, "sudo ip xfrm state")
+			cancel()
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s ip xfrm state: %w", n.Name, err)
+			}
+			s := string(raw)
+			if !strings.Contains(s, "aead") {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s xfrm has no AEAD SAs:\n%s", n.Name, strings.TrimSpace(s))
+			}
+			// Kernel renders the GCM AEAD as either `rfc4106(gcm(aes))`
+			// (RFC 4106 ESP AES-GCM, what strongSwan negotiates by default)
+			// or the bare `gcm(aes)` template name. Accept either.
+			if !strings.Contains(s, "gcm(aes)") {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%s xfrm SAs not AES-GCM:\n%s", n.Name, strings.TrimSpace(s))
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}, 90*time.Second, 5*time.Second)
+
+	harness.Step(t, "tcpdump ESP traffic on underlay (best-effort)")
+	for _, n := range fix.Cluster.Nodes {
+		c, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 15*time.Second)
+		raw, err := ssh.Run(c, n.Addr,
+			"sudo timeout 5 tcpdump -i any -nn -c 5 'ip proto 50' 2>&1 || true",
+		)
+		cancel()
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Logf("WARN: %s tcpdump ESP capture failed: %v", n.Name, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		s := strings.TrimSpace(string(raw))
+		if strings.Contains(s, "ESP") {
+			harness.Detail(t, "node", n.Name, "esp_capture", "observed")
+		} else {
+			t.Logf("WARN: %s tcpdump saw no ESP traffic in 5s window (geneve may be idle):\n%s", n.Name, s)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/multinode/tests_test.go b/tests/e2e/multinode/tests_test.go
index c9425fca4..8d567446d 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/multinode/tests_test.go
+++ b/tests/e2e/multinode/tests_test.go
@@ -98,3 +98,11 @@ func TestMultinodeVPCNetworking(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	runVPCNetworking(t, requireMultiNodeFixture(t))
 }
+
+// TestMultinodeIPSec is read-only over SSH — verifies the OVN native IPsec
+// wiring (OVS DB cert pointers, xfrm SAs, ESP traffic) without launching
+// any AWS resources. Safe to run alongside the parallel bucket.
+func TestMultinodeIPSec(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	runIPSec(t, requireMultiNodeFixture(t))
+}