There is no such thing as "zero repercussions way out" here, and it seems to make no sense to even want that in this context. Either the bugs are real and they get fixed, or they don't and now the project looks bad; if for whatever reason the bugs turned out to not be an issue, that would be the only time it wouldn't matter in the end.

If the author isn't actively working with upstream to get them fixed, and isn't announcing that association with the project, it's probably safe to say they don't have a position of authority within that project.