Returns the canonical 48-byte signing payload for a Signed Tree Head.
Layout: tree_size (u64 BE, 8 bytes) || root_hash (32 bytes) || timestamp_ns (i64 BE, 8 bytes).
See docs/wire-format.md §5.2.
Verifies an RFC 6962 consistency proof.
Returns true iff the tree of old_size with root old_root is a prefix
of the tree of new_size with root new_root.
Verifies an STH and enforces that its timestamp is strictly later than
previous_timestamp_ns. Returns false if timestamp_ns <= previous_timestamp_ns
or if the signature is invalid. Use this when processing a sequence of STHs to
guard against replayed or out-of-order tree heads.