In processor/src/execution_options.rs, expected_cycles is validated against max_cycles before being rounded up via next_power_of_two().max(MIN_TRACE_LEN). This means the check can pass even when the rounded value exceeds max_cycles.

Example: expected_cycles = 65, max_cycles = 100 — check passes, but after rounding expected_cycles becomes 128 > 100 and no error is returned.

The fix is straightforward: move the validation to after the rounding step.