Explain How Network Instability Could Lead to ‘Front-Running’ in a Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

Network instability, often manifesting as variable block times or transaction re-organizations, creates an environment where front-running thrives. A malicious actor can observe a pending, high-value trade in the transaction pool (mempool).

They can then pay a higher transaction fee (gas price) to incentivize a miner/validator to include their own trade (a similar trade at a slightly better price) in an earlier block, profiting from the price movement they cause.