[GOD13emad]

Single cross-platform v1.5.6 candidate — exact head 2ff2d4db27a4f7c125ad9099157aa0d29af9b568

Draft / review-only; NO MERGE, TAG, PUBLIC RELEASE OR PERSONAL HOST DEPLOYMENT. AI-assisted engineering does not constitute the requested independent human approval.

This PR now includes Linux and Windows v1.5.6 source and exact hosted QA. It remains stacked on security PR #63. The branch was fast-forwarded from verified Linux-only R803 to the identical Windows-tested R805 commit, without force or changing main.

Original-repository native evidence:

• Windows + Linux combined CI #39386955434, exact 2ff2d4db27a4f7c125ad9099157aa0d29af9b568: 14 applicable jobs PASS, 0 failures. Only the tag-only public-release and branch-specific redundant Root bootstrap jobs SKIPPED; neither is falsely called PASS. Existing unchanged Linux Root/Guard source was already natively exercised on the previous parent in CI #39345726043.
• Disposable Windows Server 2025: built .NET 10 GUI and Service at FileVersion 1.5.6.0, used unchanged Inno AppId and pinned PowerShell runtime, then installed public Stable v1.5.4 → in-place upgraded to private v1.5.6 → uninstalled and restored v1.5.4, validating one uninstaller, ownership, installed GUI/Service hashes, user settings/provider/evidence preservation and no default-route or DNS drift.
• Exact native-tested PRIVATE unsigned Windows installer: SHA256 13E7B8ACB0392D0CB5C2CB64CFCBB4FC4B5F0E69B10E391803BF899CECBF16DA, 154,320,361 bytes. R535 native receipt SHA256 682047A8EE08F82759577E4F08A00E6510D6C1BF8964DFFE9E2245F80B36BD6C; short-retention artifact r600-private-tested-v156-39386955434. Not publicly released or installed on physical hosts.
• Independent source CodeQL #39387100889: Python and C# analyses PASS; required CodeQL check #118509804384 SUCCESS with zero annotations and no waiver. The scanner-only fork Draft PR was closed UNMERGED.
• Existing Linux 1.5.6 candidate: 28 payload members, ZIP SHA256 A8356107C5DE6529E8270D1EE404A7D8A629040BD0D17F3F83C61C390790655D (8,427,001 bytes), trusted Root bootstrap SHA256 D0181C15C54B90A3B6E03FBFBE32148341037AB60CF4D6788B6A72140304340F. Two exact predecessor pairs are allowed: Root/User 1.5.2/1.5.4 and 1.5.5-rc1/1.5.5-rc1; per-stage nonce, Guard/watchdog, data preservation and restoration tested in isolated/hosted scope.

Additional exact native Windows acceptance (R806): Original Windows Server 2025 hosted run #39390086658 COMPLETED SUCCESS: independently downloaded the previously tested private RC1 installer (artifact #12220929264, SHA256 FD078EA29369877DC6DEF89125DDC2FD8BDB67CD994A2811681093D115B266C3) and previously tested private v1.5.6 installer (artifact #12247793992, SHA256 13E7B8ACB0392D0CB5C2CB64CFCBB4FC4B5F0E69B10E391803BF899CECBF16DA). Verified both expected bytes and unsigned policy before execution; completed private v1.5.5-rc1 → v1.5.6 → private v1.5.5-rc1 with 54 native acceptance checks, exactly one installed app/uninstaller, GUI + Service binary SHA, preserved user-defined custom sites, provider data and untracked evidence, and unchanged Windows DNS/default routes. Native receipt SHA256 09E6BBAA6EEA87CC76E26E25F84ACD1369077A92EBBB6ECEE2B34CE6E2B04E9A; artifact r806-private-native-receipt-39390086658. An initial runner job #39389677420 safely failed before any installer execution because shallow checkout could not resolve HEAD^; correction used fetch-depth: 3 plus exact parent/grandparent checks. This is disposable hosted native acceptance, NOT acceptance of installed personal Windows machines. R806 test resides on an exact, separately bounded QA branch; the product-binary SHA of PR #64 remains unchanged.

Owner-authorized physical Linux v1.5.6 canary now accepted (R808): On one Linux laptop with prior Root/User 1.5.5-rc1, a local OS-admin polkit consent installed the pinned new Root bootstrap. Exact Linux archive SHA256 A8356107C5DE6529E8270D1EE404A7D8A629040BD0D17F3F83C61C390790655D, 28 payloads. The product's original native guarded installer applied Root/User 1.5.5-rc1→1.5.6, retaining exactly one installed application; existing protected Root backend bytes matched v1.5.6 and were not unnecessarily rewritten. Native Start, Stop, Recovery all succeeded; HTTPS YouTube HTTP200/TLS verified, OpenAI API HTTP401/TLS verified and Google HTTP204/TLS verified, with no Tailscale/physical DNS/default-route changes. Exact user settings 9/9 SHA and Root 4/4 and User 8/8 code hashes matched. Root nonce-bound receipt SHA256 8692D905272368640A82DC2EF01B470E12D63A0E84E0680F15AE7947E1CECF61 produced PASS_R808_PHYSICAL_NATIVE_RC1_TO_V156_ROOT_COMMITTED; User transaction produced PASS_SINGLE_INSTALL_UPDATE_COMMITTED_SETTINGS_PRESERVED_NO_BACKUP_COPIES. The elapsed Root watchdog observed NO_ROLLBACK_ALREADY_COMMITTED; after evidence promotion, the exact-owned Root maintenance slot (11 files), Guard (5 files), systemd timer/service (2 units), temporary acceptance receipt and 30-file extracted QA cache were safely retired (PASS_R808_BOUNDED_ACCEPTED_MAINTENANCE_RETIRE). One previous emergency Root bootstrap remains; an older obsolete bootstrap was retired after exact SHA/owner verification. No second application installation remains. This is one physical canary only; no universal-network or authenticated browser access claim. No public tag or main merge occurred.

Explicitly OPEN for promotion: physical Windows private RC1→v1.5.6 install/rollback acceptance; other target networks/devices and authenticated ChatGPT browser sign-in, including an SNI-blocked target uplink; independent human exact-head security/release reviews of PR #63 and this PR; publisher-authorized single Stable v1.5.6 release and verified public GitHub in-app forward update.

The public v1.5.4 tag/assets and protected main are unchanged. Do not infer that passing CI or an AI-assisted comment grants publisher/security acceptance.

Prior Linux-only R803 engineering record (retained for traceability)

Scope (stacked on security PR #63; Draft, not publication)

Exact source head: 240ddaeffdc4e74675717d55c363cedaddd41137. Base: security/r776-pinned-root-read-qa at b38aa94b67fb102dd24359184abaa324cd29a3ad. AI-assisted engineering and testing; no independent human APPROVE.

Linux only: one in-place v1.5.6 candidate accepts exactly two verified Root/User predecessor pairs—public Root 1.5.2 / User 1.5.4, or previously accepted private Root 1.5.5-rc1 / User 1.5.5-rc1. Unknown or mixed pairs, modified protected files and untrusted symlinked sources fail closed. Keep one bounded two-sided Root/User rollback with 8-minute Root-owned watchdog, exact SHA-pinned files, native Start/Stop/Recovery acceptance, per-stage nonce and preservation of settings, custom providers, routes, DNS and Tailscale. The verified RC1 Root reuses equal backend SHA without rewriting program bytes. Optional encrypted selective DNS remains separate opt-in.

Artifact identity (private QA, not a published release):

• Deterministic Linux archive (28 package members + manifest/sums), 8,427,001 bytes, SHA256 A8356107C5DE6529E8270D1EE404A7D8A629040BD0D17F3F83C61C390790655D.
• Manifest SHA256 1BDF1EE5C6C3A7C18623C31D16496C077022EDFB16A68163FD885F5D909DAF9A.
• Standalone Root privileged-entry SHA256 D0181C15C54B90A3B6E03FBFBE32148341037AB60CF4D6788B6A72140304340F.
• README contains generic network acceptance limits; physical-host details remain private.

Verification (exact head):

• Original CI #39345726043: 14 applicable jobs SUCCESS, 0 failure, tag-only public release and Windows-private-RC1 jobs skipped. Hosted native Root, trusted-entry guard, 8-minute rollback, integrated Root/User, code/data safety and public v1.5.4 regression PASS at their respective scopes.
• Local Emad Linux: 47/47 applicable user-source suites PASS, original-repository UID0 suite delegated to hosted CI. Two consecutive ZIP builds byte-identical. Four separate user upgrade/rollback cases from RC1 cover provider ownership choices.
• Independent fork CodeQL #39345972914: Python & C# SUCCESS, check #118378799156 SUCCESS with 0 annotations. Fork Draft PR Finalize v1.3.0 audit evidence #1 was closed unmerged; its original-only R527 test correctly refused foreign repository origin and did not substitute for original-hosted native PASS.

HOLD (not done): v1.5.6 Windows production binaries, hosted new-version Windows installer in-place validation, physical v1.5.6 Root/User install acceptance, SNI-filtered YouTube on the intended target network on a different authorized uplink, real authenticated ChatGPT browser sign-in, human review of this exact head and PR #63, publisher-authorized single public Stable v1.5.6 with GitHub in-place updates.

Public main, release/tag v1.5.4, Windows private v1.5.5-rc1 installations and all personally installed Linux binaries/networking are unchanged. Do not merge/publish based on CI alone.

[GOD13emad]

Exact-HEAD follow-up (2026-10-30): VPN fail-closed diagnostics

The current PR #64 head is 44e8d9b419c852293301fd818e4742bd3f8cf287. A physical Windows 1.5.6 start action stopped safely when a separate virtual VPN default route took precedence over Ethernet (DEFAULT_ROUTE_NOT_PHYSICAL); the official stop completed and the application, Tailscale, settings and network routes were preserved. The code change maps only three allowlisted privileged failure classes to bounded user-readable status; it does not bypass the VPN route guard, change any route or disable a VPN. Raw PowerShell stderr is drained in bounded memory and is not logged or displayed.

Local native regression: .NET 10 service build 0 errors/0 warnings; console selftest PASS; tests/windows_contract_audit.py 122/122 PASS; r805_windows_156_forward_contract.py 5/5 PASS; R709 and R720 PASS (including 16/16 PowerShell checks). The final GitHub diff from 2ff2d4d contains only tests/windows_contract_audit.py (24 additions, 1 deletion) and windows/service/Program.cs (43 additions, 3 deletions); source blob hashes independently match the locally compiled and tested commit.

Release gates still OPEN: no hosted Actions runs were returned for this new HEAD at the last check. The earlier R806 hosted Windows installer/rollback proof applies to earlier service binaries and is not evidence for a newly rebuilt installer with this service change. Before merge/release, run exact-HEAD hosted CI/security checks and repeat the relevant R806 Windows native in-place-upgrade/rollback verification; obtain the already-requested independent reviewer approval. Do not mark public 1.5.6 FINAL from local source tests alone.

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2026-10-31 exact-head reconciliation (supersedes only the earlier "no hosted Actions runs" uncertainty): PR #64 HEAD is now da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a (8 commits after 2ff2d4db). Original-repository native CI #41038434425 completed SUCCESS: 15 applicable jobs SUCCESS, 1 tag-only public release job SKIPPED. This includes native Windows private v1.5.6 build, hosted 1.5.4→1.5.6→1.5.4 upgrade/rollback, Linux root/guard work, and the original public Stable regression. Exact-head hosted Windows hashes: tested private unsigned installer 5BDE9DFFC3B866A7754DABEF9EDC853CFE519A08944163C39D812B2C8E9F3620; Service 32AA6E88F57097D669D395999ED23A8AA85C2A330C41C542D1CB44A744C031FB; GUI 0CC4270B507BC9A141B4012378EE28D42C0EE8C5509E03A9ED3FB8C73B9865A3. Hosted native receipt SHA 4728CAC96C90FFAA886DA89D2F99EA8D1817021F01DD18C5A05A557B59C02497. A separate clean exact-head Windows checkout passed the .NET 10, 1.5.6 forward, public docs, system curl, full Windows source audit, GUI YouTube, Start YouTube health and privileged curl provenance contracts; 5 source PowerShell files parsed. Initial missing staged pinned pwsh.exe fixture was corrected by SHA-pinning the previously installed runtime, not by changing code. Disposable QA directories were verified retired.

Physical Windows Emad scope: A private 1.5.6 is registered, service Running, and 681/681 installed manifest files matched SHA-256/size in read-only validation. This existing installation is not byte-identical to the latest exact-head hosted candidate: currently installed Service SHA 237FDF518783194295072B6C1C14C744BB83E260005BDA4117DBB30FD8909130. Existing virtual preferred default route remained active. An authorized guarded native Start negative test on the installed 1.5.6 returned exit 1 with expected virtual-route guard, no changes in default routes, DNS/NRPT, Tailscale/service status, no new engine process/state; verdict PASS_FAIL_CLOSED_NO_NETWORK_MUTATION. The separately launched native Service --console-selftest returned exit 0 with existing Service still Running. This is not active-engine functional or forward-upgrade/rollback acceptance of the latest candidate on that personal Windows installation.

Remaining HOLD: genuine independent exact-head security/release approval of PR #63 and #64; physical Windows latest-build acceptance with active external VPN continuity, other targets/networks including offline MMZ host; explicit publisher promotion/verified public in-app update. Public v1.5.4 main/tag/assets remain unchanged. Do not merge, tag, publish, or mark FINAL from these technical PASS results alone.

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2026-10-31 physical OFF-lifecycle PASS + private same-version update limitation (distinct from R832): With installed private Windows 1.5.6, a native SHA-pinned, bounded Stop-Direct.ps1 → Recovery.ps1 execution returned exit 0 for both scripts; Stop reported PASS_NO_STATE, Recovery reported its original Recovery PASS. Pre/post comparison established unchanged default IPv4 routes, DNS server configurations, all NRPT rules, five UserConfig file SHA-256 hashes, the Tailscale Running service, and the DirectInternetMethodSvc Running service. No product runtime state, winws process or owned NRPT/ULA was left. Durable host operation 278409cc-26b5-4575-b302-cc25b4e07945 verdict PASS_NO_EXTERNAL_MUTATION. This closes ONLY the installed private 1.5.6 physical OFF Stop/Recovery noninterference case; positive engine Start, current exact-head installer, and full cross-host acceptance remain OPEN.

Concrete update-path risk (source proof, not a runtime update test): exact PR head windows/service/Program.cs sets CurrentVersion from the executing Service assembly and GetLatestUpdateAsync contains if (latest <= CurrentVersion) return null;. Exact-head windows/service/DirectInternetMethod.Service.csproj pins <AssemblyVersion>1.5.6.0</AssemblyVersion>. The currently installed older private Windows 1.5.6 carries FileVersion 1.5.6.0 but its Service SHA-256 237FDF51...DBB30FD8909130 differs from the latest tested exact-head build Service SHA-256 32AA6E88...44A744C031FB. Thus publishing newer bytes under the same v1.5.6 tag is not expected to trigger in-app update on that private 1.5.6 installation; a normal 1.5.4→1.5.6 release upgrade is a different case and was already tested in hosted scope. The installed native AOT image is not inspectable via .NET managed AssemblyName.GetAssemblyName (PE metadata absent), so this is source/version-and-artifact evidence, not a verified end-to-end same-version updater run.

Release-path decision gate: preserve existing successful hosted v1.5.6 evidence; before promoting the tag either (A) provide an exact-hash, admin-authorized one-time in-place replacement for each already-installed private 1.5.6 canary, with owned user data, network and rollback readback, or (B) select a strictly newer official release number and re-run all impacted native build/CI/physical acceptance, so no existing 1.5.6 instance is silently stranded. Never claim a same-version automatic upgrade from current implementation. No host installer, GitHub merge, tag or release mutation was performed by this finding. Independent security/publisher review remains OPEN.

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Private exact-CI Windows installer recovery and local staging — 2026-10-31 (NOT publication/installation): Retrieved original CI #41038434425 private ephemeral artifact #12969796101 before its scheduled expiry, checked the archived one-member ZIP CRC and extracted setup SHA256 5BDE9DFFC3B866A7754DABEF9EDC853CFE519A08944163C39D812B2C8E9F3620, size 154257997, against exact hosted BUILD_R535 / NATIVE_R535 receipt artifact #12969392085. HTTPS-staged the exact unsigned candidate on Emad Windows at one uniquely owned location <owner-local private QA directory>/DirectInternetMethod_1.5.6_Windows_Setup.exe; on-host SHA, size, NotSigned expected status and receipt verified; transient archive removed. Physical installation, Windows service, original user data, OpenConnect and Tailscale were not changed. Durable Commander receipt f4dd958d-7b0d-4ec1-9127-4fbda5baf4b5 reports successful staging only; NOT an installation/functional test. The older locally installed private 1.5.6 still has different service bytes and the version-monotonic updater will not accept same-tag public 1.5.6 as newer. A one-time SHA-pinned native/consented in-place repair + physical rollback checks remains pending; no SYSTEM-driven installer launch or UAC bypass was attempted. Independent human #63/#64 review, physical positive live networking and publisher promotion remain HOLD.

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Exact current SHA security scanner, 2026-10-31: Reused the existing independent fork-side scanner-only Draft PR #1, moving its head via non-force, expected-SHA fast-forward from 2ff2d4db27a4f7c125ad9099157aa0d29af9b568 to product PR #64 exact da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a. Exact SHA CodeQL run #41151655487 COMPLETED SUCCESS in all three Analyze (actions), Analyze (csharp), Analyze (python) jobs. CodeQL check #124389485685 SUCCESS with explicit GitHub title "No new alerts in code changed by this pull request"; scanner covers 7/7 C# source files and 52/52 Python files. Two annotations inspected were informational Ubuntu runner migration notices, not security alerts. The full historical branch alert inventory is not independently accessible through unauthenticated REST (HTTP 401), so this does not assert zero pre-existing alerts. Separate fork source run #41151659413 COMPLETED FAILURE at the intended R527 original-repository ownership guard R527_EXACT_GITHUB_REPOSITORY_REQUIRED in linux-source, while windows-source and public-v154 regression succeeded; that fork-only restricted Root test must not be bypassed. The original-owned exact-head CI #41038434425 already succeeded including the required native guarded Root tests. No code, original PR main/tag, installed binaries, Tailscale or VPN was modified by fork CodeQL refresh. Security scanner check PASS at this SHA, independent human release/security approval and physical Windows latest-private-canary installation remain OPEN.

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2026-10-31 follow-up: R838 historical candidate reconciliation and R839 exact-SHA Linux rootless contract validation. Historical R520/R535 candidate workspaces: 71 distinct SHA contents outside the prior root hash ledger were mapped to exact PR #64 HEAD da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a. 35 ordinary edited/untracked file paths exist in current source; 6 byte-identical, 29 different (line-opcode diff inspected for all 35, focused semantic review on 12 high-impact files). Absent historical files are QA stage scripts/receipts and sandbox .git metadata, not evidence of missing shipping paths. Retained historical code is not auto-promoted over the newer exact source.

On an actual connected Linux development host, a clean exact-HEAD rootless checkout under /tmp gave 5/7 contract-script PASS and 2 environmental failures from deliberate HOME_OWNER / STATE_USER_HOME fail-closed guards. Re-running the identical commit from a temporary owner-owned location under HOME gave 7/7 PASS: encrypted selective DNS policy, GUI consent, integration, mocked controller, fake lifecycle, protected upgrade transaction, user-update data preservation. Neither execution changed privileged services/DNS/routing or installed application. Both temporary checkouts removed. Durable native-host receipts 90ec6a7b-c418-4b9a-a052-a71dbb3a2fd8 (initial nonconforming path), 56e8da0f-0aac-40f3-8c26-3cc463c710cd (accepted owner-home PASS); source-root Brain event DIM-R839-OWNER-HOME-ROOTLESS-CONTRACTS-20261031. Scope: 7 source/fixture contracts only; not physical live engine, all-uplink network acceptance, installer upgrade/rollback, reviewer approval or release authorization. Public Stable v1.5.4 remains unchanged.

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2026-10-31 R840 — source-security and host-boundary evidence, exact PR #64 HEAD da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a. In an isolated, owner-owned temporary checkout on a connected Linux host, 16 additional negative-first/rootless security and transaction contract scripts passed. Fourteen passed in the first invocation; two tests requiring the deterministic Linux package initially stopped because the checkout was bare. After building the exact private Linux 1.5.6 ZIP (8,427,001 bytes, SHA256 A8356107C5DE6529E8270D1EE404A7D8A629040BD0D17F3F83C61C390790655D), both dependent suites passed. This means 16/16 prerequisite-satisfied contract suites PASS, not an unqualified initial full-suite PASS. Durable operation receipts: 850e19ff-72cf-4095-861a-eb3ae97dc89c (14 PASS + two prerequisite failures), de105418-dc9e-49e9-a88e-388bb0990643 (exact package verified + 2 PASS); disposable QA checkouts removed.

Read-only existing real Linux installation: private User and protected backend both report 1.5.6; one user installation directory; upgrade mode IN_PLACE_SINGLE_INSTALL_DATA_PRESERVED; system trusted privileged entrypoint is root-owned mode 0500; current default route is an external virtual tunnel, with Tailscale active. Real Windows still has an older private 1.5.6 Service running, and the SHA-pinned newest exact-HEAD private setup is still staged only. No installed files, external VPN/Tailscale, DNS/routes, Root state, or original GitHub refs were changed by these extra tests. Evidence in original canonical PROJECT_BRAIN.md event DIM-R840-EXACT-PR64-SECURITY-AND-PHYSICAL-READBACK-20261031 and receipt evidence/DIM_R840_EXACT_PR64_SECURITY_AND_PHYSICAL_READBACK_20261031.json (SHA256 4420A7FAB7853D239E2A29FADA73DC7032433FC0F2A262C95E2843B3DD5FE9FF).

Remaining HOLD / do not infer release authorization: Independent qualified PR #63/#64 security and publisher approval still absent (reviewer request already pending, no duplicate request); exact newest build native consented in-place physical upgrade and rollback, positive intended-uplink Start/Stop/Recovery and cross-site HTTPS/TLS, MMZ host unavailable, and verified public GitHub update path. CodeQL and static contract PASS do not replace these gates. No merge/tag/release.

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2026-10-31 R841: MMZ Linux host reconnected; exact PR64 rootless QA on a second physical Linux machine + network-differential readback. Source checkout pinned to da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a; seven owner-local unprivileged DNS policy/GUI consent/integration/controller/fake lifecycle/protected upgrade/user-update contract suites 7/7 PASS (durable MMZ host receipt e956fbdc-76b4-48ff-a5cc-f4d2ec2516f8). Unmodified preferred vpn0 produced TLS1.3/HTTP200 for YouTube, Google and GitHub, plus OpenAI API TLS1.3/HTTP401 without credentials; these are VPN-path baselines, not DirectInternetMethod success. Socket-only egress bound to physical interface enp7s0 instead timed out for all three YouTube/Google/GitHub within four seconds; this does not establish YouTube-specific SNI suppression or certify direct-uplink support. No DNS, route, VPN, privilege, installed product or system service mutation was performed. MMZ expected User installation receipt and standard protected backend directory are currently absent; old user/provider data and a privileged entry file remain. MMZ full product is not currently accepted as installed. Original MMZ checkout has two pre-existing tracked modifications preserved; temporary QA/source/probe files removed and independently checked. Original canonical Brain event DIM-R841-MMZ-LIVE-TLS-AND-ROOTLESS-CONTRACTS-20261031, evidence evidence/DIM_R841_MMZ_LIVE_NETWORK_AND_EXACT_PR64_ROOTLESS_20261031.json SHA256 C56235C8BE9D8FF051FC81F5CB7D49D974C49018D623CB963654A9B672BB19D6. Outstanding: MMZ physical authorized installation + direct-uplink network acceptance, Windows exact-build installed in-place/rollback, independent PR63/64 human approval and public updater/release; public latest remains v1.5.4. No merge/tag/release.

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2026-10-31 R842 second-Linux-host private candidate staging, 16/16 scoped security QA, native privilege boundary: On MMZ Linux, pinned exact product PR64 HEAD da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a; generated the same private 1.5.6 Linux archive as CI (ZIP 8,427,001 bytes, SHA256 A8356107C5DE6529E8270D1EE404A7D8A629040BD0D17F3F83C61C390790655D), checked 30 ZIP entries, CRC, and every one of the 28 byte/SHA manifest entries. All 16 source-level privileged-entry/transaction/fail-closed and versioned-package contract scripts PASS on this second connected Linux development host with the package prerequisite satisfied, durable operation 6c7d4048-ceb7-43db-bf2d-02a8eed970e7. All installer CLI dependencies and Gtk Python bindings were found. Native installed privileged bootstrap file has root:root, permission 0500, link count one; current standard User/Root product install receipts and backend are absent, so no installation or positive native engine acceptance is claimed.

One private ZIP and preflight receipt were staged in a user-local cache only. The temporary exact-source clone and QA helper scripts were retired with hash readback; pre-existing dirty MMZ project files and external VPN/network remained untouched. A narrowly scoped, non-mutating native authorization probe pkexec --disable-internal-agent /usr/bin/true reached a 16-second TIMEOUT_NO_APPROVAL; no credentials read, no privileged command or product installation executed. The native polkit approval gate remains OPEN. Main technical evidence: original Windows canonical PROJECT_BRAIN.md event DIM-R842-MMZ-PRIVATE-STAGE-AND-SECURITY-20261031, evidence/DIM_R842_MMZ_PRIVATE_STAGE_AND_SECURITY_20261031.json SHA256 DE1C8EEC16BAA18055EBF291E06778A3B3BA700F509C1EC4167731DAADD67407. Original PR63/64 human review, MMZ physical direct-uplink site functionality, exact candidate physical Windows installer+rollback, and public updater/tagging all remain HOLD; no merge or release.

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2026-10-31 R843 MMZ physical-interface network-probe interpretation corrected. Latest native read-only routing evidence now shows existing OpenConnect vpn0 preferred default (metric 50), a blackhole default (metric 75) and lower-priority physical Ethernet gateway (metric 40050). With a physical-device bound socket, TCP to local gateway (port 80, ~1ms) and the separately whitelisted OpenConnect endpoint (port 443, ~135ms) both connected; a public non-exempt destination timed out (~3s). For a public destination, the kernel's device-bound route lookup returns physical interface without a via-gateway, while source-bound lookup still selects vpn0. Thus the prior R841 three-site TCP timeouts cannot establish that the underlying ISP link is blocked or that YouTube has site-specific SNI/TLS filtering; the active VPN's kill-switch/default routing and the probe methodology confound this inference. This is a scoped correction to interpretation, not a new functional PASS or an authorization to bypass a third-party VPN. Original physical route/DNS/firewall/VPN configuration and installed software were unchanged. Durable native observation bb3ed822-122c-4f80-a1a7-90947b89b916; canonical Brain event DIM-R843-MMZ-PHYSICAL-ROUTE-KILLSWITCH-20261031, evidence evidence/DIM_R843_MMZ_PHYSICAL_ROUTE_KILLSWITCH_20261031.json SHA256 F12A0F0005D307E50F3F89AE9C5C3E5D688956E163E011EDF024E5977D9B6364. Physical direct-network and native engine acceptance need a legitimate owner-authorized time window where the external kill-switch permits direct egress. Independent human approval and latest Windows installed-canary rollback remain release HOLD; no merge/tag/public publish.

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2026-10-31 R844 release monotonicity blocker triage and isolated next-version build feasibility (NO PR/source/published release changes): Real Emad Windows private Service FileVersion 1.5.6.0, SHA256 237FDF518783194295072B6C1C14C744BB83E260005BDA4117DBB30FD8909130. The exact current PR64 GUI/Service source uses System.Version latest <= current; native host evaluation confirms same-version public tag v1.5.6 is NOT offered to private 1.5.6.0, whereas v1.5.7 passes the numeric gate (other published asset/security checks still apply). Avoid changing <= to < without a separately reviewed payload-digest state design because of repeated same-version download risk.

Scoped temporary proof-of-concept only: Independent owner-home throwaway Linux exact-HEAD clone built a possible 1.5.7 ZIP (8,427,104 bytes, SHA256 DCDA11034CB832805C7E4B0D86DA13560CB5D51EB18ED070B4C907975AF27AE6), verified ZIP CRC/30 entries and 28/28 manifest content digests, plus 5 selected rootless contracts PASS. Fixed the version-specific README immutability digest with a new pinned SHA (did NOT disable that hardening gate). Separate throwaway Windows exact-HEAD clone revised four relevant version-declaration files and built GUI and Service using .NET SDK 10.0.401 Release, both 0 errors / 0 warnings. All experimental sources and generated binaries deleted on both hosts after verification. No actual production 1.5.7 candidate, tag, Installer, CI, CodeQL or physical upgrade performed.

Engineering path selected for subsequent implementation: promote one coordinated, strictly newer v1.5.7 public candidate (while preserving 1.5.6 private receipts), update all versioned Linux/Windows/installer/security/test inputs without erasing old baseline tests, re-pin protected bootstraps/hashes, rerun exact-head CI/CodeQL and actual native in-place/rollback. Existing PR64 exact da2c81c remains unchanged for security-review provenance; no release authorization. Current upstream public Stable still v1.5.4. Canonical Brain evidence DIM-R844-MONOTONIC-FORWARD-157-FEASIBILITY-20261031 in evidence/DIM_R844_FORWARD_VERSION_MONOTONIC_FEASIBILITY_20261031.json SHA256 A7DB2AD1784C471616880D49B8A71F6056704C799E4AF4F3AFE5E0228B0C89DB. Human PR63/64 approvals, Windows latest private physical upgrade/rollback, MMZ polkit and VPN-free acceptance remain OPEN.

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2026-10-31 R845 scoped engineering: verified private 1.5.6 → potential 1.5.7 Linux Root/User forward path, NOT a source change to this exact PR. Exact upstream PR64 SHA da2c81cacd2ffb72e198fcd3b56f9355fedb022a remains unchanged. A single 22,903-byte reproducible source patch was prepared outside the PR (original canonical Brain evidence evidence/DIM_R845_MONOTONIC_V157_ROOT_USER_SOURCE_PREP.patch, SHA256 F2647E305F4C4A0E39B28204DF5D7DC3EAEA5E1C836AA3FE13A751489B023AA5). It explicitly accepts the previously installed, byte-pinned Root/User 1.5.6 matched pair as an additional future baseline, preserves historic 1.5.2/1.5.4 and 1.5.5-rc1 pairs, keeps unknown/mixed versions fail-closed, and couples the new Linux User updater, Uninstaller and Installer version assertions.

Scope of verified results: Same patch checked and applied cleanly against fresh exact-head clones on Windows and Linux; both deterministically built identical private exploratory Linux 1.5.7 ZIP, 8,427,156 bytes, SHA256 16009B39037D77399B41BB89DE86B48F8E0841A2AA4A1BB16FDE481180FDD2CF, ZIP CRC and 28/28 package member digests PASS. Linux negative-first 4/4 fake-Root cases PASS (private 1.5.6→1.5.7 staged/apply/rollback, tamper rejection, unknown version rejection, paired-version guard). Two User transaction suites each PASS 19 preservation + 3 atomic metadata + 11 SIGKILL recovery fixtures after synchronizing installer/updater/uninstaller version assumptions. These tests do not run elevated native Root, alter host VPN/DNS/routes, install software or authorize public promotion. Both temporary source clones removed; original owner worktrees and installed services preserved. Canonical receipt evidence/DIM_R845_COHERENT_157_SOURCE_PATCH_20261031.json SHA256 18989EB94237471AC3A7E305F595F5F8181B503EA6FB8310617B74BBDAA8D160.

Still HOLD: This is NOT an official 1.5.7 branch/PR/Installer, CI or public release. It still needs coherent Windows version/manifest/Inno/CI migration, actual native in-place+rollback acceptance for old private 1.5.6 and Stable 1.5.4, owner/OS consent for MMZ Linux, direct-uplink positive network validation, and independent exact-source security/release human reviews. Publishing v1.5.6 as Stable would NOT update an existing private Windows 1.5.6.0 via its current monotonic updater. No reviewer approval/merge/tag/release implied.