Interesting... I agree those pictures don't look anything like bud rot or mold, that I've seen (and I've had my fair share over the years).
I've had something happen that made my buds look like that after harvest. One time I had these strangth nutrient deficiencies on my plant. It was worst near the light, but all over the plant. I checked the pH, and it was correct.
In the end, I think it was my nutrients. The bottle of Dyna-Gro Bloom was old and I think the cap wasn't sealed well, because I noticed it was making crystals around the lid. Once I bought a new bottle, the deficiency stopped spreading, but my buds still looked like this at the top. The buds sort of died from the outside in. But the main symptoms were on the leaves first, and buds last.
My other thought, was is it possible it was
revegging from a light leak? That can make it so the buds start dying, even if the plant is still green and healthy. And it will affect all buds not just the ones close to the light.
Here is what buds dying from a reveg looks like (for reference). Notice the leaves all have one "finger" instead of the normal amount. That's another sign of reveg.
