Authority Rotation (V3)

Status: BUILT AND TESTED — NOT IN USE. This describes the V3 XRGE bridge, which is not activated. No production authority exists yet.

The V3 post-quantum root authority is an M-of-N set of ML-DSA-65 keys. Rotation replaces that set without upgrading any contract.

Design

• The vault and verifier are immutable. The vault stores a commitment to the current authority set (version, threshold and member key hashes).
• A new set is published as a new immutable authority table on Base, together with the pre-expanded key data the verifier needs.
• The current authority signs a rotation to the new commitment with ML-DSA-65. The vault enforces a 48-hour timelock between proposing and executing a rotation.
• A rotation manifest binds the Base-side rotation to a RougeChain-side authority schedule record, so every node derives the same "which authority signs which epoch" answer from chain history.

Safety checks before anything is signed

• The rotation signer reconstructs the new set commitment from the actual keys and the on-chain table contents before signing; it does not sign a supplied hash.
• Every member of the new set must take part in the ceremony, and at least two independent checkers must confirm the on-chain tables match the intended keys.
• A durable signing journal prevents signing two different rotations for the same version.
• Root signing for an epoch is refused until the matching schedule record and Base-side state are both observed (publication gate).

Known hazard

The vault cannot check that a new commitment is well-formed. A rotation to a wrong commitment would leave the new authority unable to sign (the bridge fails closed — funds cannot move, but they are not exposed). The checks above exist to prevent this, and the design is flagged for external review.

Rehearsal status

Rotation has been rehearsed in tests and proposed on a local OP-stack devnet. Execution after the real 48-hour timelock is the remaining rehearsal step.