diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/detector.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/detector.sh
index f35d229b..4eea6248 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/detector.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/detector.sh
@@ -301,6 +301,11 @@ _poll_source() {
           echo "detector.sh: WAKE_SNAPSHOT_TS_FUTURE_SLACK='$slack' is not a plain non-negative integer (seconds) — falling back to 300, poll continues (#940)." >&2
           slack=300
         fi
+        # Shape validation is not radix validation: bash reads a leading zero as
+        # OCTAL, so '08'/'09' pass the regex yet are FATAL in $((...)), and
+        # '0300' silently means 192. Force base-10 so the knob means what the
+        # operator wrote (safe: the regex above guarantees pure digits).
+        slack=$((10#$slack))
         now_s="$(date +%s)"
         if [ "$snap_ts" -gt $((now_s + slack)) ]; then
           echo "detector.sh: source '$kind/$id' snapshot_ts is beyond the ${slack}s future-skew allowance (ts=$snap_ts now=$now_s) — snapshot_ts DROPPED, poll continues (#940)." >&2
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/manifest.txt b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/manifest.txt
index 2c089c31..02830656 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/manifest.txt
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/manifest.txt
@@ -279,7 +279,12 @@
 #              gets the same discipline (#941 §2 round 2): validated
 #              ^[0-9]{1,9}$, else LOUD fallback to 300 — a malformed knob
 #              ('300s', '5m', 'abc') must never kill the poll, and a negative
-#              one must never invert the guard into deny-all. SKEW GUARANTEE
+#              one must never invert the guard into deny-all. Shape validation
+#              is NOT radix validation (#942 review): bash reads leading zeros
+#              as OCTAL, so '08'/'09' pass the regex yet are fatal in $((...))
+#              and '0300' silently means 192 — the knob is therefore forced
+#              base-10 (10#) after validation, so it means what the operator
+#              wrote. SKEW GUARANTEE
 #              (stated, not implied): the future-skew check runs against the
 #              DETECTOR's clock; consumer-side age arithmetic runs on the
 #              consumer's. A surviving snapshot_ts is therefore attested only
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh
index 126559bb..9ec80e68 100755
--- a/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh
+++ b/packages/mosaic/framework/tools/wake/test-wake-detector.sh
@@ -644,6 +644,24 @@ EOF
   entry="$("$STORE" drain | tail -1)"
   echo "$entry" | jq -e --arg s "$goodsha" 'select(.locators.snapshot_sha==$s) | .locators | has("snapshot_ts")' >/dev/null 2>&1 \
     || fail_msg "D13: negative slack must NOT invert the guard into deny-all [$entry]"
+  # (d2-pre) ZERO-PADDED knobs — shape-valid, radix-hostile. '08' passes the
+  # regex but is fatal octal in \$((...)) without the 10# normalization; '0300'
+  # silently means 192 (octal), so a ts +250s ahead would be WRONGLY dropped.
+  # With 10#: '08' means 8 and survives; '0300' means 300 and the +250s ts is KEPT.
+  printf '{"snapshot_sha":"%s","snapshot_ts":%s}\n' "$goodsha" "$(date +%s)" >"$stub/repo_r1.meta"
+  printf 'SHA-DD2\n' >"$stub/repo_r1"
+  err="$(WAKE_SNAPSHOT_TS_FUTURE_SLACK='08' "$DET" poll-once 2>&1 >/dev/null)"; rc=$?
+  [ "$rc" -eq 0 ] || fail_msg "D13: SLACK='08' (octal-fatal without 10#) must NEVER fail the poll (rc=$rc) [$err]"
+  entry="$("$STORE" drain | tail -1)"
+  echo "$entry" | jq -e --arg s "$goodsha" 'select(.locators.snapshot_sha==$s) | .locators | has("snapshot_ts")' >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+    || fail_msg "D13: SLACK='08' with a current ts must keep the metadata [$entry]"
+  printf '{"snapshot_sha":"%s","snapshot_ts":%s}\n' "$goodsha" "$(( $(date +%s) + 250 ))" >"$stub/repo_r1.meta"
+  printf 'SHA-DD3\n' >"$stub/repo_r1"
+  err="$(WAKE_SNAPSHOT_TS_FUTURE_SLACK='0300' "$DET" poll-once 2>&1 >/dev/null)"; rc=$?
+  [ "$rc" -eq 0 ] || fail_msg "D13: SLACK='0300' must not fail the poll (rc=$rc)"
+  entry="$("$STORE" drain | tail -1)"
+  echo "$entry" | jq -e --arg s "$goodsha" 'select(.locators.snapshot_sha==$s) | .locators | has("snapshot_ts")' >/dev/null 2>&1 \
+    || fail_msg "D13: SLACK='0300' must mean 300 (decimal), so a +250s ts is KEPT — octal 192 would have dropped it [$entry]"
   # (d) a VALID knob is still honored: slack=0 with a ts 60s ahead -> future-skew drop.
   printf '{"snapshot_sha":"%s","snapshot_ts":%s}\n' "$goodsha" "$(( $(date +%s) + 60 ))" >"$stub/repo_r1.meta"
   printf 'SHA-EEE\n' >"$stub/repo_r1"
@@ -653,7 +671,7 @@ EOF
   entry="$("$STORE" drain | tail -1)"
   echo "$entry" | jq -e --arg s "$goodsha" 'select(.locators.snapshot_sha==$s) | .locators | has("snapshot_ts") | not' >/dev/null 2>&1 \
     || fail_msg "D13: valid SLACK=0 must drop the future ts but keep the sha [$entry]"
-  [ "$(det_seq)" = "4" ] || fail_msg "D13: all four real deltas must still have enqueued, got seq $(det_seq)"
+  [ "$(det_seq)" = "6" ] || fail_msg "D13: all six real deltas must still have enqueued, got seq $(det_seq)"
 ) && ok
 
 echo