External Framework Failure Class Catalog

Purpose

This catalog defines reusable failure classes for external-framework evaluation.

A failure class describes the kind of governance weakness or divergence observed. It is not a verdict about the entire framework.

Classification Rule

Use the least broad class that accurately describes the observed behavior.

If the observation lacks test parameters, raw outputs, timestamps, or source version, mark the observation as partial and do not generalize beyond the captured case.

Canonical Failure Classes

ID	Name	Definition	Typical Signal	StegVerse Relationship
FC-001	Semantic Equivalence Divergence	Equivalent or higher-risk consequence-bearing transitions receive different governance outcomes because they are expressed with different labels, wrappers, or tool paths.	transfer_funds blocks while move_value allows comparable value movement.	Commit-Time Validity; Consequence-Binding Transition Review.
FC-002	Authority Drift	Authority changes, expires, or mutates without a corresponding standing update.	Previously authorized action remains allowed after authority changes.	Commit-Time Authority; Drift.
FC-003	Stale Evidence	A decision depends on evidence outside its validity window.	Old receipt, old approval, or stale policy remains sufficient.	Evidence Posture; Commit-Time Validity.
FC-004	Delegation Leakage	Delegated authority exceeds its granted scope, target, actor, amount, or duration.	Delegate can act outside assigned policy boundary.	Authority Class; Delegation Reference.
FC-005	Replay Divergence	Replay of the same governed artifact produces a different outcome without recorded context change.	Same transition replays ALLOW then DENY, or vice versa.	Replayability; Reconstructability.
FC-006	Recoverability Loss	The transition cannot be independently reconstructed after the fact.	Missing trace, missing receipt, missing policy source, or incomplete artifact chain.	Recoverability; Receipt-Bound Execution.
FC-007	Fail-Open Runtime Error	Runtime evaluator errors, times out, or becomes unavailable while execution remains possible.	ERROR produces execution permission or no blocking posture.	Fail-Closed; Governance Boundary.
FC-008	Source-Claim Mismatch	Public claims, implementation behavior, and observed behavior diverge.	Website claims broad blocking; demo or repo behavior is narrower.	Evidence Provenance; Comparative Fairness.
FC-009	Non-Claim Boundary Collapse	An analysis page, report, or result implies certification, endorsement, or authority not supported by evidence.	Compatibility page reads as validation or endorsement.	Non-Claims; Standing Boundary.
FC-010	Policy Granularity Gap	Policy checks are too coarse to distinguish material risk differences.	High-value external movement and low-value internal movement receive the same posture.	Policy Reference; Consequence Review.
FC-011	Actor Ambiguity	The evaluated actor, user, system, delegate, or authority source is unclear or conflated.	self, customer ID, service account, and delegate are not distinguished.	Identity; Authority Class.
FC-012	Evidence Class Confusion	Framework claims, implementation evidence, observed behavior, and StegVerse analysis are presented as the same kind of evidence.	A website claim is treated as an observed result.	Evidence Provenance; Claim Traceability.

Required Failure Record Fields

A failure record should include:

failure_class_id
framework
source_or_test_id
input_sequence_or_artifact
observed_result
expected_boundary
missing_artifacts
claim_strength
StegVerse interpretation
next_required_action

Claim Strength Levels

Level	Meaning
Internal Note	Conversation memory or incomplete observation only.
Partial Observation	Some parameters recorded, but raw output or source version missing.
Public Observation Candidate	Parameters, output, source version, and timestamp present.
Reproduced Failure	Independently reproduced from attached parameters.
Interoperability Finding	Routed through StegVerse Commitment Candidate or SPE path.

Non-Claims

A failure class does not certify that an external framework is unsafe.
A failure class does not prove general incompatibility.
A failure class does not replace framework-native context.
A failure class does not create StegVerse execution authority.

Mandatory Footer

Failure classes are evidence labels. They help preserve and compare observed behavior without overstating standing. Publication of a failure class does not establish final authority, certification, or global validation.