# Phase 0.5 independent offline review

Date: 2026-07-17. Decision: **BLOCKED**.

## Review result

| Area | Status | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| SDK source pin and release | `SAFE` | local source is exact v0.41 commit |
| stock CRT object provenance | `SAFE` | all 12 sources and six empty archives enumerated and hashed |
| stock CRT execution | `UNSAFE` | reachable kernel credential and syscall-bound writes |
| stock rtld initialization | `UNSAFE` | reachable module load/start path and runtime allocation |
| freestanding flag suppression | `SAFE` | no-output driver trace removes CRT and default libraries |
| BSS byte-clear primitive | `SAFE` | implementable without imports using linker bounds |
| exact firmware-9.60 loader identity | `UNPROVEN` | not present in local pinned evidence |
| incoming stack/register contract | `UNPROVEN` | caller source absent |
| `payloadout` ownership/lifetime | `UNPROVEN` | only callee declaration exists |
| safe return and post-return cleanup | `UNPROVEN` | caller continuation absent |
| crash cleanup | `UNPROVEN` | loader fault path absent |
| pre-entry process modifications | `UNPROVEN` | kernel-access state is supplied but creation is absent |
| custom startup artifact | `SAFE` nonexistence | build gate stopped before source/link |
| permanent legacy artifact block | `SAFE` policy control | exact SHA-256 is denylisted and ineligible |
| Payload Manager integration surface | `SAFE` repository control | fail-closed JSON policy gate rejects false eligibility and denylisted hashes |
| external manager implementation | `UNPROVEN` outside repository | no Chimera Payload Manager source is in this project |

## Side-effect conclusion

The stock SDK startup is conclusively not kernelwrite-free. A hypothetical
freestanding entry could omit that startup, but safe loader return and cleanup
are not proven. It would be unsafe to turn a compiler/linker possibility into
an executable artifact without the caller evidence.

No PS5 connection, transfer, execution, VideoOut open, GNM call, framebuffer
write, network initialization, module load, credential change, syscall-bound
change, or new PS5 ELF occurred during this review.

## Artifact policy

The legacy capability-probe SHA-256
`4be1c17b4964f2b68c39b5145bc4af4619c32512d60269ecf5c39728b390fa63`
is permanently `BLOCKED`. `tools/check_artifact_execution_policy.py` returns a
nonzero decision for either `execution_eligible=false` or an exact denylist
match. A zero status means only that this static eligibility layer passed; its
JSON explicitly sets `execution_authorized=false`.

There is no approval package for transfer or one-time execution because the
task explicitly forbids asking for execution permission and the feasibility
decision is blocked.