diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-self-hosted.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr-self-hosted.yaml
index 1d4d89609cb..8f10b31e0ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-self-hosted.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-self-hosted.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ jobs:
 
   build-sandbox-images:
     runs-on: linux-amd64-cpu4
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ jobs:
 
   build-sandbox-images-arm64:
     runs-on: linux-arm64-cpu4
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sandbox-images-and-e2e.yaml b/.github/workflows/sandbox-images-and-e2e.yaml
index f9801ba7a18..76636265f33 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sandbox-images-and-e2e.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sandbox-images-and-e2e.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   build-sandbox-images:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - &checkout
         name: Checkout
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ jobs:
   build-sandbox-images-arm64:
     if: inputs.run_arm64
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04-arm
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - *checkout
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile.base b/Dockerfile.base
index 0141342b08b..161d09921de 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.base
+++ b/Dockerfile.base
@@ -52,6 +52,86 @@
 # by OpenClaw CLI version bumps or the weekly docker-pin-check.
 # ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+ARG PERL_VERSION=5.44.0
+ARG PERL_SHA256=505cf43912e9480495c344c70260452e32aa2a73c546a026b3f100053b23ce91
+ARG PERL_PACKAGE_REVISION=1nemoclaw1
+
+# Debian trixie has not published a Perl package containing the upstream
+# fixes for CVE-2026-12087, CVE-2026-13221, and CVE-2026-57433. Build the
+# fixed upstream release as native Debian packages so dpkg dependencies and
+# vulnerability inventory both describe the runtime that is actually used.
+FROM node:22-trixie-slim@sha256:e6d9a389d34ff9678438af985c9913fbd1eb6ed36e80fea56644f4b4f6dd70ba AS perl-builder
+
+ARG PERL_VERSION
+ARG PERL_SHA256
+ARG PERL_PACKAGE_REVISION
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+        build-essential=12.12 \
+        ca-certificates=20250419 \
+        curl=8.14.1-2+deb13u4 \
+        netbase=6.5 \
+        xz-utils=5.8.1-1+deb13u1 \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+WORKDIR /tmp/perl-source
+
+# Perl Configure's d_syscallproto probe compiles and runs a target test through
+# Buildx/QEMU. The QEMU-backed build returns a false negative for trixie's libc
+# declaration, so pin the known target result instead of synthesizing a
+# conflicting prototype. Remove this override when the QEMU-backed multi-arch
+# build in .github/workflows/base-image.yaml passes without it.
+RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsSL \
+        --retry 5 --retry-all-errors --retry-delay 2 --connect-timeout 15 --max-time 120 \
+        -o /tmp/perl.tar.xz "https://www.cpan.org/src/5.0/perl-${PERL_VERSION}.tar.xz" \
+    && printf '%s  %s\n' "${PERL_SHA256}" /tmp/perl.tar.xz > /tmp/perl.sha256 \
+    && sha256sum -c /tmp/perl.sha256 \
+    && tar -xJf /tmp/perl.tar.xz -C /tmp/perl-source --strip-components=1 \
+    && ./Configure -des \
+        -Dprefix=/usr \
+        -Dvendorprefix=/usr \
+        -Dsiteprefix=/usr/local \
+        -Dusethreads \
+        -Duse64bitall \
+        -Dd_syscallproto=define \
+        -Dman1dir=none \
+        -Dman3dir=none \
+    && make -j"$(nproc)" \
+    && make test \
+    && make install DESTDIR=/tmp/perl-root
+
+RUN package_version="${PERL_VERSION}-${PERL_PACKAGE_REVISION}" \
+    && architecture="$(dpkg --print-architecture)" \
+    && mkdir -p /tmp/perl-root/DEBIAN /tmp/perl-meta/DEBIAN \
+    && printf '%s\n' \
+        'Package: perl-base' \
+        "Version: ${package_version}" \
+        "Architecture: ${architecture}" \
+        'Essential: yes' \
+        'Priority: required' \
+        'Section: perl' \
+        'Multi-Arch: allowed' \
+        'Maintainer: NVIDIA NemoClaw Maintainers' \
+        "Provides: libperl5.40 (= ${package_version}), perl-modules-5.40 (= ${package_version})" \
+        'Conflicts: libperl5.40, perl-modules-5.40' \
+        "Breaks: perl (<< ${package_version})" \
+        "Replaces: libperl5.40, perl-modules-5.40, perl (<< ${package_version})" \
+        'Description: Perl 5 language interpreter built for the NemoClaw sandbox' \
+        > /tmp/perl-root/DEBIAN/control \
+    && printf '%s\n' \
+        'Package: perl' \
+        "Version: ${package_version}" \
+        "Architecture: ${architecture}" \
+        'Priority: standard' \
+        'Section: perl' \
+        'Multi-Arch: allowed' \
+        "Depends: perl-base (= ${package_version})" \
+        'Maintainer: NVIDIA NemoClaw Maintainers' \
+        'Description: Perl 5 language interpreter metapackage for the NemoClaw sandbox' \
+        > /tmp/perl-meta/DEBIAN/control \
+    && dpkg-deb --build --root-owner-group /tmp/perl-root /tmp/perl-base.deb \
+    && dpkg-deb --build --root-owner-group /tmp/perl-meta /tmp/perl.deb
+
 FROM node:22-trixie-slim@sha256:e6d9a389d34ff9678438af985c9913fbd1eb6ed36e80fea56644f4b4f6dd70ba
 
 # OpenShell blocks the link-local EC2 Instance Metadata Service. Keep AWS SDK
@@ -134,6 +214,22 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
     && ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python
 
+COPY --from=perl-builder /tmp/perl-base.deb /tmp/perl.deb /tmp/
+
+RUN apt-get update \
+    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends /tmp/perl-base.deb /tmp/perl.deb \
+    && rm -f /tmp/perl-base.deb /tmp/perl.deb \
+    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* \
+    && test "$(perl -e 'print $^V')" = "v5.44.0" \
+    && test "$(perl -MSocket -e 'print Socket->VERSION')" = "2.041" \
+    && test "$(perl -MStorable -e 'print Storable->VERSION')" = "3.41" \
+    && perl -MSocket=pack_ip_mreq_source -e \
+        'eval { pack_ip_mreq_source("\0" x 4, "\0" x 3) }; die "short source accepted" unless $@ =~ /Bad arg length/' \
+    && perl -e \
+        'my $x = join "|", "aaa".."mzz"; my $y = join "|", "naa".."zzz"; use re "Debug"; "fnord" =~ m/(?:$x)|(?:$y)/' \
+    && git --version \
+    && test -z "$(dpkg --audit)"
+
 # gosu for privilege separation (gateway vs sandbox user).
 # Install from GitHub release with checksum verification instead of
 # Debian's packaged gosu can lag upstream. Pinned to 1.19 (2025-09).
diff --git a/ci/source-shape-test-budget.json b/ci/source-shape-test-budget.json
index 436145f68f1..fe88cdbc922 100644
--- a/ci/source-shape-test-budget.json
+++ b/ci/source-shape-test-budget.json
@@ -391,6 +391,11 @@
       "test": "cross-checks the allowlist against every production archive install boundary",
       "category": "security"
     },
+    {
+      "file": "test/perl-critical-cve-remediation.test.ts",
+      "test": "builds the fixed upstream release from a checksum-pinned source archive (#7338)",
+      "category": "security"
+    },
     {
       "file": "test/platform-vitest-main-workflow.test.ts",
       "test": "keeps the WSL suite unprivileged with explicit root-only contracts",
diff --git a/test/e2e/support/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.test.ts b/test/e2e/support/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.test.ts
index 92b79cb85c2..5ad606eb77f 100644
--- a/test/e2e/support/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/support/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.test.ts
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ describe("sandbox image workflow boundary", () => {
 
     expect(validateSandboxImagesWorkflow(imageWorkflow, mainWorkflow)).toEqual(
       expect.arrayContaining([
-        "build-sandbox-images must retain its 15-minute producer budget",
+        "build-sandbox-images must retain its 45-minute producer budget",
         "runtime-overrides timeout must cover its 45-minute probe budget",
         "runtime-overrides must remain an independent consumer of build-sandbox-images",
         "OpenClaw producer must not run the failure-isolated runtime probe",
diff --git a/test/helpers/base-apt-security-functions.ts b/test/helpers/base-apt-security-functions.ts
index d19d875c5cf..d57928ac0e5 100644
--- a/test/helpers/base-apt-security-functions.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/base-apt-security-functions.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,59 @@
 // SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+export function dockerRunCommandBetween(
+  dockerfile: string,
+  startMarker: string,
+  endMarker: string,
+): string {
+  const start = dockerfile.indexOf(startMarker);
+  const end = dockerfile.indexOf(endMarker, start);
+  if (start === -1 || end === -1 || end <= start) {
+    throw new Error(`Expected Dockerfile block between ${startMarker} and ${endMarker}`);
+  }
+  const runIndex = dockerfile.indexOf("RUN ", start);
+  if (runIndex === -1 || runIndex > end) {
+    throw new Error(`Expected RUN instruction after ${startMarker}`);
+  }
+  const runLines: string[] = [];
+  for (const line of dockerfile.slice(runIndex, end).split("\n")) {
+    runLines.push(line);
+    if (!line.trimEnd().endsWith("\\")) {
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  const lastLine = runLines[runLines.length - 1]?.trimEnd() ?? "";
+  if (lastLine.endsWith("\\")) {
+    throw new Error(`Expected complete RUN instruction before ${endMarker}`);
+  }
+  return runLines
+    .join("\n")
+    .trim()
+    .replace(/^RUN\s+/, "")
+    .replace(/\\\n/g, " ");
+}
+
+export function runLoggedDockerShell(command: string, tmp: string, functionDefs: string[]) {
+  const logPath = path.join(tmp, "calls.log");
+  const script = [
+    "#!/usr/bin/env bash",
+    "set -euo pipefail",
+    `call_log=${JSON.stringify(logPath)}`,
+    ...functionDefs,
+    command,
+  ].join("\n");
+  const scriptPath = path.join(tmp, "run-docker-block.sh");
+  fs.writeFileSync(scriptPath, script, { mode: 0o700 });
+  return spawnSync("bash", [scriptPath], {
+    encoding: "utf-8",
+    timeout: 5000,
+  });
+}
+
 export const BASE_APT_SECURITY_FUNCTIONS = [
   [
     "dpkg() {",
diff --git a/test/perl-critical-cve-remediation.test.ts b/test/perl-critical-cve-remediation.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a10103012f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/perl-critical-cve-remediation.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "Dockerfile.base"), "utf8");
+const baseImageWorkflow = fs.readFileSync(
+  path.join(import.meta.dirname, "..", ".github", "workflows", "base-image.yaml"),
+  "utf8",
+);
+const fixedPerlVersion = "5.44.0";
+const fixedPerlSha256 = "505cf43912e9480495c344c70260452e32aa2a73c546a026b3f100053b23ce91";
+
+function stageNamed(name: string): string {
+  const start = dockerfile.indexOf(` AS ${name}`);
+  expect(start, `missing ${name} stage`).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+  const next = dockerfile.indexOf("\nFROM ", start);
+  return dockerfile.slice(start, next >= 0 ? next : undefined);
+}
+
+function completedStage(): string {
+  const start = dockerfile.lastIndexOf("\nFROM ");
+  expect(start, "missing completed image stage").toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+  return dockerfile.slice(start);
+}
+
+function argumentDefault(name: string): string | undefined {
+  return dockerfile.match(new RegExp(`^ARG ${name}=([^\\s]+)$`, "mu"))?.[1];
+}
+
+describe("sandbox base critical Perl CVE remediation", () => {
+  // source-shape-contract: security -- Exact upstream version and checksum bind the replacement runtime to the reviewed CVE fixes
+  it("builds the fixed upstream release from a checksum-pinned source archive (#7338)", () => {
+    const builder = stageNamed("perl-builder");
+    const download = builder.indexOf(
+      '-o /tmp/perl.tar.xz "https://www.cpan.org/src/5.0/perl-${PERL_VERSION}.tar.xz"',
+    );
+    const checksum = builder.indexOf("sha256sum -c /tmp/perl.sha256");
+    const extract = builder.indexOf("tar -xJf /tmp/perl.tar.xz");
+
+    expect(argumentDefault("PERL_VERSION")).toBe(fixedPerlVersion);
+    expect(argumentDefault("PERL_SHA256")).toBe(fixedPerlSha256);
+    expect(download).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(checksum).toBeGreaterThan(download);
+    expect(extract).toBeGreaterThan(checksum);
+    expect(builder).toContain("-Dd_syscallproto=define");
+    expect(builder).toContain("Perl Configure's d_syscallproto probe");
+    expect(builder).toContain("Remove this override when the QEMU-backed multi-arch");
+    expect(builder).toContain(".github/workflows/base-image.yaml");
+    expect(baseImageWorkflow).toContain("docker/setup-qemu-action");
+    expect(baseImageWorkflow).toContain("platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64");
+    expect(baseImageWorkflow).toContain("dockerfile: Dockerfile.base");
+  });
+
+  it("runs the upstream test suite before packaging the replacement runtime (#7338)", () => {
+    const builder = stageNamed("perl-builder");
+    const compile = builder.indexOf('make -j"$(nproc)"');
+    const test = builder.indexOf("make test");
+    const install = builder.indexOf("make install DESTDIR=/tmp/perl-root");
+    const packageBuild = builder.indexOf("dpkg-deb --build --root-owner-group");
+
+    expect(compile).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(0);
+    expect(test).toBeGreaterThan(compile);
+    expect(install).toBeGreaterThan(test);
+    expect(packageBuild).toBeGreaterThan(install);
+  });
+
+  it("replaces the vulnerable distro packages without breaking dpkg ownership (#7338)", () => {
+    const builder = stageNamed("perl-builder");
+    const runtime = completedStage();
+
+    expect(builder).toContain(
+      '"Provides: libperl5.40 (= ${package_version}), perl-modules-5.40 (= ${package_version})"',
+    );
+    expect(builder).toContain("'Conflicts: libperl5.40, perl-modules-5.40'");
+    expect(builder).toContain(
+      '"Replaces: libperl5.40, perl-modules-5.40, perl (<< ${package_version})"',
+    );
+    expect(runtime).toContain(
+      "apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends /tmp/perl-base.deb /tmp/perl.deb",
+    );
+    expect(runtime).toContain('test -z "$(dpkg --audit)"');
+  });
+
+  it("fails the image build unless all three critical fixes are active (#7338)", () => {
+    const runtime = completedStage();
+
+    expect(runtime).toContain(`test "$(perl -e 'print $^V')" = "v${fixedPerlVersion}"`);
+    expect(runtime).toContain(`test "$(perl -MSocket -e 'print Socket->VERSION')" = "2.041"`);
+    expect(runtime).toContain(`test "$(perl -MStorable -e 'print Storable->VERSION')" = "3.41"`);
+    expect(runtime).toContain("pack_ip_mreq_source");
+    expect(runtime).toContain('die "short source accepted"');
+    expect(runtime).toContain('use re "Debug"');
+    expect(runtime).toContain('"fnord" =~ m/(?:$x)|(?:$y)/');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/runner.test.ts b/test/runner.test.ts
index 56e17c1143f..67d61a93d89 100644
--- a/test/runner.test.ts
+++ b/test/runner.test.ts
@@ -1028,10 +1028,12 @@ describe("regression guards", () => {
 
       expect(baseSrc).toContain("ENV AWS_EC2_METADATA_DISABLED=true");
       expect(runtimeSrc).toContain("ENV AWS_EC2_METADATA_DISABLED=true");
+      const baseRuntimeStageStart = baseSrc.lastIndexOf("\nFROM ");
+      expect(baseRuntimeStageStart).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
       const runtimeStageStart = runtimeSrc.indexOf("# Stage 3: Runtime image");
       expect(runtimeStageStart).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
       for (const [source, stageStart] of [
-        [baseSrc, 0],
+        [baseSrc, baseRuntimeStageStart],
         [runtimeSrc, runtimeStageStart],
       ] as const) {
         const fromIndex = source.indexOf("\nFROM ", stageStart);
diff --git a/test/sandbox-base-security-packages.test.ts b/test/sandbox-base-security-packages.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d479b64147c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sandbox-base-security-packages.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  BASE_APT_SECURITY_FUNCTIONS,
+  dockerRunCommandBetween,
+  runLoggedDockerShell,
+} from "./helpers/base-apt-security-functions";
+
+const ROOT = path.resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..");
+const DOCKERFILE_BASE = path.join(ROOT, "Dockerfile.base");
+
+describe("sandbox base security packages", () => {
+  it("rejects a sandbox security package when its expected checksum changes", () => {
+    const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8");
+    const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-base-checksum-"));
+    const untouchedTail = path.join(tmp, "untouched-python-link");
+    const command = dockerRunCommandBetween(
+      dockerfile,
+      "ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive",
+      "# gosu for privilege separation",
+    )
+      .replace("df928e3a8e4da79408d4b18e8cd80a03dffa90130d0698e50041aab5e14f9397", "0".repeat(64))
+      .replaceAll("/var/lib/apt/lists", tmp)
+      .replaceAll("/tmp/nemoclaw-debian-security", path.join(tmp, "security-debs"))
+      .replaceAll("/usr/local/bin/python", untouchedTail)
+      .replaceAll("/usr/bin/python3", path.join(tmp, "python3"));
+
+    try {
+      const result = runLoggedDockerShell(command, tmp, [
+        'apt-get() { printf "apt-get %s\\n" "$*" >> "$call_log"; }',
+        ...BASE_APT_SECURITY_FUNCTIONS,
+      ]);
+      expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(fs.existsSync(untouchedTail)).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});
diff --git a/test/sandbox-provisioning.test.ts b/test/sandbox-provisioning.test.ts
index 817a65852e7..9d8d36994a9 100644
--- a/test/sandbox-provisioning.test.ts
+++ b/test/sandbox-provisioning.test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ const DEEPAGENTS_DOCKERFILE_BASE = path.join(
   "Dockerfile.base",
 );
 
+function completedDockerStage(dockerfile: string): string {
+  const start = dockerfile.lastIndexOf("\nFROM ");
+  return start >= 0 ? dockerfile.slice(start) : dockerfile;
+}
+
 function dockerRunCommandBetween(
   dockerfile: string,
   startMarker: string,
@@ -1039,40 +1044,15 @@ describe("sandbox provisioning: base runtime tools", () => {
     ["Hermes", HERMES_DOCKERFILE_BASE],
     ["Deep Agents Code", DEEPAGENTS_DOCKERFILE_BASE],
   ])("installs pinned nftables for OpenShell bypass enforcement in %s", (_agent, file) => {
-    const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(file, "utf-8");
+    const dockerfile = completedDockerStage(fs.readFileSync(file, "utf-8"));
     const aptInstall = dockerfile.match(
       /^RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \\\n(?:.*\\\n)*.*$/m,
     )?.[0];
     expect(aptInstall).toBeDefined();
     expect(aptInstall).toContain("nftables=1.1.3-1");
   });
-  it("rejects a sandbox security package when its expected checksum changes", () => {
-    const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8");
-    const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-base-checksum-"));
-    const untouchedTail = path.join(tmp, "untouched-python-link");
-    const command = dockerRunCommandBetween(
-      dockerfile,
-      "RUN apt-get update",
-      "# gosu for privilege separation",
-    )
-      .replace("df928e3a8e4da79408d4b18e8cd80a03dffa90130d0698e50041aab5e14f9397", "0".repeat(64))
-      .replaceAll("/var/lib/apt/lists", tmp)
-      .replaceAll("/tmp/nemoclaw-debian-security", path.join(tmp, "security-debs"))
-      .replaceAll("/usr/local/bin/python", untouchedTail)
-      .replaceAll("/usr/bin/python3", path.join(tmp, "python3"));
-    try {
-      const { result } = runLoggedDockerShell(command, tmp, [
-        'apt-get() { printf "apt-get %s\\n" "$*" >> "$call_log"; }',
-        ...BASE_APT_SECURITY_FUNCTIONS,
-      ]);
-      expect(result.status).not.toBe(0);
-      expect(fs.existsSync(untouchedTail)).toBe(false);
-    } finally {
-      fs.rmSync(tmp, { recursive: true, force: true });
-    }
-  });
   it("base apt layer requests procps, e2fsprogs, and the SFTP server", () => {
-    const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8");
+    const dockerfile = completedDockerStage(fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8"));
     const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-base-apt-"));
     const lists = path.join(tmp, "apt-lists");
     const securityDebs = path.join(tmp, "security-debs");
@@ -1107,7 +1087,7 @@ describe("sandbox provisioning: base runtime tools", () => {
   });
 
   it("symlinks bare `python` to python3 so agent tool calls don't fail with command-not-found (#1452)", () => {
-    const dockerfile = fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8");
+    const dockerfile = completedDockerStage(fs.readFileSync(DOCKERFILE_BASE, "utf-8"));
     const tmp = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-base-pysymlink-"));
     const lists = path.join(tmp, "apt-lists");
     const securityDebs = path.join(tmp, "security-debs");
diff --git a/tools/e2e/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.mts b/tools/e2e/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.mts
index 7711cad733d..f2482c82cd6 100644
--- a/tools/e2e/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.mts
+++ b/tools/e2e/sandbox-images-workflow-boundary.mts
@@ -649,8 +649,8 @@ function validateRuntimeImageReuse(errors: string[], workflow: SandboxImagesWork
   const producer = workflow.jobs[producerName] ?? {};
   const runtimeName = "runtime-overrides";
   const runtimeJob = workflow.jobs[runtimeName] ?? {};
-  if (producer["timeout-minutes"] !== 15) {
-    errors.push("build-sandbox-images must retain its 15-minute producer budget");
+  if (producer["timeout-minutes"] !== 45) {
+    errors.push("build-sandbox-images must retain its 45-minute producer budget");
   }
   if (runtimeJob["timeout-minutes"] !== 60) {
     errors.push("runtime-overrides timeout must cover its 45-minute probe budget");