chimera-gfx-Public/docs/runtime/phase-0.9d-readback-feasibility.md

Phase 0.9D existing-stack readback feasibility

Date: 2026-07-18 Decision: BLOCKED_NO_READBACK_PATH

Route search, in required order

Order	Candidate	Source result	Binary framing	Short-read / EOF / size	Decision
1	Payload Manager download	no endpoint exists	absent	absent	ABSENT
2	Payload Manager file read	internal reads are not returned to HTTP client	absent	absent	ABSENT
3	elfldr response or host pipe	controlled route returns fixed status text and disables payload stdio; legacy stdio requires a payload process	no file protocol	no file completeness contract	rejected
4	exploit host	README sends host-to-PS5; implementation absent	no reverse framing	unproven	rejected
5	browser/USB host	browser uploads toward PS5; USB move writes device storage	reverse direction or mutating	no host-copy contract	rejected
6	repository tools	deploy scripts send through port 9021 only	no reverse framing	absent	rejected
7	no route	all audited paths exhausted	—	—	selected

Hardened elfldr socksrv.c:288-375 sends only rejection, error, or Controlled payload exited status. The payload data is discarded after loading and controlled stdio is -1. Controlled Manager verified_launcher.c:31-184 verifies and sends a descriptor to elfldr and then closes; ps5_launcher.c:18-69 exposes connect/send/close only. Neither side contains a receive path for component bytes.

Flag semantics

server_active_flag

• Declaration and initial value: static volatile integer initialized to zero, src/log_server.c:20-23.
• Sole writer: log_server_set_active() assigns one.
• Sole reader: pldmgr_server_is_active(), used by src/autoload.c:101 only to suppress fallback notification behavior while a browser/server request has occurred.
• Reset: none in the process.
• Lifetime: process-local; it cannot persist as this variable after process exit or reboot. Exact manager process lifetime on hardware is unobserved.
• No source path connects it to filesystem writes, autoload enablement, payload launch, request authorization, shutdown, or boot configuration.
• Disconnect does not reset it; a crash/process exit destroys the process state.

Classification: LOW_VOLATILE, not ANTI_BRICK_CRITICAL. Because there is no reset semantic within the running process, any otherwise observational route remains PARTIAL and a future permission must explicitly accept this effect, log-ring changes, connection state, buffers, sockets, and counters.

autoload_triggered

• Declaration/initial value: static volatile integer zero, src/autoload.c:31.
• Writers: pldmgr_autoload_get_status() sets one (:45); pldmgr_autoload_reset() sets zero (:235).
• Readers: autoload worker wait logic at :82-86.
• /autoload_status calls the mutating getter before building its response (src/http_server.c:1037-1041).
• Reset is explicit clear/resume logic, not disconnect cleanup.
• It is process-local, but can change worker timing and therefore launch behavior while that process exists.

Classification: HIGH_FUNCTIONAL. /autoload_status is excluded from Windows 1 and 2. The later duplicate route at http_server.c:1104-1111 is unreachable because the first identical comparison already matches.

Path inventory

Literal path	Source	Meaning	Live status	Evidence
/data/pldmgr	controlled Manager include/pldmgr.h:8	base device directory	configured default only	source literal
/data/pldmgr/payloads	same :12	payload storage	configured default only	source literal
/data/pldmgr/autoload.txt	same :9	Manager autoload list	configured default only	source literal
/data/pldmgr/pldmgr_config.txt	same :10	Manager config	configured default only	source literal
/data/pldmgr/repository_cache.json	same :11	repository cache	configured default only	source literal
/data/pldmgr/sources.json	same :14	repository sources	configured default only	source literal
/mnt/usb0/pldmgr … /mnt/usb7/pldmgr	payload_mgr.c:201-218	USB scan roots	possible source directories	source literal/pattern
/data/pldmgr/payloads/chimera-controlled	controlled Manager source/profile	controlled staging directory	explicitly not installed	offline candidate only
/data/pldmgr/payloads/elfldr/elfldr_v0.23.elf	historical Phase-0.6 manifest/tool input	stock identity reference	not runtime-observed	reference_only
/data/pldmgr/payloads/pldmgr/pldmgr_v0.3.1.elf	historical Phase-0.6 manifest/tool input	stock identity reference	not runtime-observed	reference_only
/data/payload.elf	elfldr README example	generic manual launch example	not a current mapping	documentation example
/user/temp/payload_<pid>.self	elfldr self-loader source	temporary converted image	runtime-generated, not component live path	source template
/system/vsh/app/NPXS40112/eboot.bin	elfldr bootstrap source	injection victim executable	not an elfldr installation path	source literal

No audited input binds an actual live elfldr or Manager object to a current path. The package/reference paths and configured defaults therefore produce PATH_CONFLICT; no future readback window may guess.

Readback decision matrix

• NEW_OBSERVER_FEASIBILITY: BLOCKED
• EXISTING_STACK_MANUAL_FACT_COLLECTION: PARTIAL
• EXISTING_STACK_SINGLE_READBACK: BLOCKED_NO_READBACK_PATH
• EXISTING_STACK_REPEAT_READBACK: BLOCKED
• ELFLDR_INDEPENDENT_RECOVERY: PARTIAL
• PAYLOAD_MANAGER_INDEPENDENT_RECOVERY: PARTIAL
• SIDE_BY_SIDE_FEASIBILITY: BLOCKED
• DEVICE_WRITE: NOT_AUTHORIZED
• TARGET_EXECUTION: NOT_AUTHORIZED
• INSTALLATION: NOT_AUTHORIZED

There is no possible first readback component: the component-risk order cannot override an absent transport. A missing metadata query would merely reduce a copy to SOURCE_MAPPING_PARTIAL; here the earlier condition—getting complete binary bytes—already fails.

Explicitly acceptable only after later consent

A future read-only request could reasonably entail sockets, temporary buffers, heap allocation, connection/request counters, scheduler activity, cache or atime effects, audit/process/network accounting, stdout logging, ring logging, and a process-local server_active_flag=1. These effects are not claimed absent. They are acceptable only if the chosen route has no device-file write, launch, autoload, service, or persistent configuration effect and the artifact-specific permission names them.

No such permission is requested in Phase 0.9D.