Security Response Capability 2026-05-22

This packet records how PrivateDAO handled a concrete security finding during judging-stage hardening: identify the failure mode, fix the vulnerable boundary, add a repeatable gate, and keep public claims aligned with evidence.

Finding

The browser commit/reveal voting lane could persist the reveal preimage field saltHex inside the privatedao-governance-session localStorage entry.

Security invariant: a browser vote preimage must not be stored in long-lived browser storage before reveal. If an injected script, malicious extension, or page-level XSS can read browser storage during the commit window, it should not be able to recover the vote salt from the application state.

Affected surface:

• apps/web/src/components/governance-session.tsx
• apps/web/src/components/governance-action-workbench.tsx

Remediation

Fix commit:

• commit: 27e979c072cacc5661e856fdba4310a387a93335
• committed at: 2026-05-22T22:50:53+03:00
• subject: Harden vote salt privacy boundaries

Implemented controls:

• Browser-persisted governance state is redacted before writing to localStorage.
• saltHex is optional in runtime state and is intentionally absent from persisted state.
• Pre-reveal voteChoice is redacted from persisted state.
• The governance workbench no longer renders reveal salts in the DOM.
• Reloading a tab before reveal discards the in-memory preimage instead of weakening the privacy boundary.

The UX tradeoff is intentional: the web flow is now less forgiving but safer. A user who closes or reloads the tab before reveal must recommit or use an operator path that manages the reveal preimage outside browser storage.

Verification Gate

Repeatable command:

npm run verify:security-boundaries:2026-05-22

The gate checks that:

• source code no longer persists raw governance state with JSON.stringify(state);
• persisted governance state redacts saltHex;
• the workbench no longer renders a Reveal salt: disclosure;
• the homepage does not market an unqualified ZK privacy claim;
• monitoring remains truth-bounded unless delivery evidence is closed.

Supporting remediation packet:

• docs/security-remediation-2026-05-22.md

Public Claim Boundary

What is now safe to say:

• PrivateDAO detected a vote-preimage persistence weakness.
• The browser storage boundary was fixed in code.
• A repo gate now prevents regression of the same class of claim and storage drift.
• The ZK lane is presented as commit/reveal plus off-chain proof review today, not as a shipped on-chain verifier CPI.
• A standalone Testnet ZK verifier program now emits a live BN254 pairing receipt, while full circuit verification-key enforcement remains a separate production gate.

What is not claimed by this packet:

• external audit completion;
• production monitoring delivery closure;
• mainnet real-funds readiness;
• production multisig authority transfer completion.

Custody Follow-Up

The Testnet program-upgrade authority has now moved from the single deployer key to a Squads vault PDA.

Observed readout after transfer on 2026-05-22:

Program Id: EP9xE8MJZ6FfyEwLqns6HDdUZBknEa7WGYs1Jzsecuva
ProgramData Address: FKyt5DcmRQcCF8kzMGjCvfGb3ZPHMQnH1SqiG9Mi8xEc
Authority: CALHrBqx6jbzcPn2NVcinqSAHeod65v9LcDuTxsdPqBv
Last Deployed In Slot: 405189011

Transfer evidence:

• Squads multisig: thHmF7VYNtxE1MaDzYXbfPCiq13RF6JwuWnjvDZuSmF
• Squads vault authority: CALHrBqx6jbzcPn2NVcinqSAHeod65v9LcDuTxsdPqBv
• threshold: 2-of-3
• timelock: 48 hours
• creation signature: 67S63JAUNvvCED3hE9h6bCXW9iJ3EYzJLARvj8Lki5x2dJEgLnrfES9mp6bAxfsH6vfmor2ocqNaEd68uVN68DNJ
• upgrade transfer signature: EzwLLrAchBpj3eLTUFuv1uo9rSLKgKNbQgp1DkCevJycT31Eou9TSJsJsEfMjLt4q87pKwXaZUTqCZ1NduNc1vy

This closes the Testnet program-upgrade single-key authority gap. DAO authority, treasury-operator authority, external audit, and mainnet real-funds readiness remain separate gated items.

Follow-On Response Evidence

After the browser privacy remediation, PrivateDAO added two further reviewer-visible hardening signals:

• Squads upgrade proposal 1 reached 2-of-3 approval with second approval signature 2wpJ27Mkb5CffngRx9U6upPjB8jbzWHoFrDLnxhB5NSCiiXCFGt5HVDYU8U7FtwYusynRCcWhy1T6av22VzCC7MY.
• Standalone Testnet ZK verifier program 5H7Afyqdh5yPekkZJ5UM2j3HNB2bRvU8aVv8XoqeAW1j emitted receipt signature zwqNsA3kNP1mgcaS6zNdR92LLdssFULXfsRdkMK3UxraKLM6wYDoPaWCwV3J9PqApK5xJJH8TpxsGyCRcdEah67.

These do not remove the remaining timelock and full-circuit verifier-key gates. They do show the operating pattern expected from a security-capable founder-built infrastructure project: disclose the boundary, close what can be closed immediately, and convert every serious claim into a transaction, gate, or receipt.