diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index 6ab49135cb7..c7cc5e26d50 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -24,14 +24,14 @@ env:
     ####
     #### Cache-image names to test with (double-quotes around names are critical)
     ####
-    FEDORA_NAME: "fedora-42"
+    FEDORA_NAME: "fedora-43"
     FEDORA_AARCH64_NAME: "${FEDORA_NAME}-aarch64"
-    PRIOR_FEDORA_NAME: "fedora-41"
+    PRIOR_FEDORA_NAME: "fedora-42"
     RAWHIDE_NAME: "rawhide"
-    DEBIAN_NAME: "debian-13"
+    DEBIAN_NAME: "debian-14"
 
     # Image identifiers
-    IMAGE_SUFFIX: "c20250910t092246z-f42f41d13"
+    IMAGE_SUFFIX: "c20260319t182308z-f43f42d14"
 
     # EC2 images
     FEDORA_AMI: "fedora-aws-${IMAGE_SUFFIX}"
@@ -810,7 +810,7 @@ podman_machine_aarch64_task:
     depends_on: *build
     ec2_instance:
         <<: *standard_build_ec2_aarch64
-    timeout_in: 40m
+    timeout_in: 60m
     env:
         TEST_FLAVOR: "machine-linux"
         TEST_BUILD_TAGS: ""
@@ -1099,13 +1099,9 @@ upgrade_test_task:
     depends_on: *build
     matrix:
         - env:
-              # 2024-02: as long as possible/reasonable, try to keep
-              #   one version < 4.8 so we can test boltdb. v4.3.1 is
-              #   the lowest we can go right now, builds before that
-              #   have netavark <1.4 which hangs on f39 kernel (#21863).
-              PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM: v4.3.1
+              PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM: v5.3.1
         - env:
-              PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM: v4.8.0
+              PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM: v5.6.2
     gce_instance: *standardvm
     env:
         TEST_FLAVOR: upgrade_test
diff --git a/cmd/rootlessport/main.go b/cmd/rootlessport/main.go
index 107f5403e74..0662526ddf1 100644
--- a/cmd/rootlessport/main.go
+++ b/cmd/rootlessport/main.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ outer:
 		_ = os.Remove(socketfile)
 		// workaround to bypass the 108 char socket path limit
 		// open the fd and use the path to the fd as bind argument
-		fd, err := unix.Open(socketDir, unix.O_PATH, 0)
+		fd, err := unix.Open(socketDir, unix.O_PATH|unix.O_CLOEXEC, 0)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/libpod/container.go b/libpod/container.go
index 12b6bf46d92..1af841fdff6 100644
--- a/libpod/container.go
+++ b/libpod/container.go
@@ -1442,18 +1442,20 @@ func (c *Container) NetworkMode() string {
 		// If there is none, it's host networking.
 		// If there is one and it has a path, it's "ns:".
 		foundNetNS := false
-		for _, ns := range ctrSpec.Linux.Namespaces {
-			if ns.Type == spec.NetworkNamespace {
-				foundNetNS = true
-				if ns.Path != "" {
-					networkMode = fmt.Sprintf("ns:%s", ns.Path)
-				} else {
-					// We're making a network ns,  but not
-					// configuring with Slirp or CNI. That
-					// means it's --net=none
-					networkMode = "none"
+		if ctrSpec.Linux != nil {
+			for _, ns := range ctrSpec.Linux.Namespaces {
+				if ns.Type == spec.NetworkNamespace {
+					foundNetNS = true
+					if ns.Path != "" {
+						networkMode = fmt.Sprintf("ns:%s", ns.Path)
+					} else {
+						// We're making a network ns,  but not
+						// configuring with Slirp or CNI. That
+						// means it's --net=none
+						networkMode = "none"
+					}
+					break
 				}
-				break
 			}
 		}
 		if !foundNetNS {
diff --git a/libpod/container_internal_common.go b/libpod/container_internal_common.go
index b7b888abf5e..395490d2a30 100644
--- a/libpod/container_internal_common.go
+++ b/libpod/container_internal_common.go
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ import (
 	"go.podman.io/common/pkg/umask"
 	is "go.podman.io/image/v5/storage"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/idtools"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/lockfile"
@@ -1207,11 +1208,10 @@ func (c *Container) exportCheckpoint(options ContainerCheckpointOptions) error {
 			if mp == "" {
 				return fmt.Errorf("volume %s is not mounted, cannot export: %w", volume.Name(), define.ErrInternal)
 			}
-
-			input, err := archive.TarWithOptions(mp, &archive.TarOptions{
+			input, err := chrootarchive.Tar(mp, &archive.TarOptions{
 				Compression:      archive.Uncompressed,
 				IncludeSourceDir: true,
-			})
+			}, mp)
 			if err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("reading volume directory %q: %w", v.Dest, err)
 			}
@@ -1226,12 +1226,12 @@ func (c *Container) exportCheckpoint(options ContainerCheckpointOptions) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	input, err := archive.TarWithOptions(c.bundlePath(), &archive.TarOptions{
+	bundle := c.bundlePath()
+	input, err := chrootarchive.Tar(bundle, &archive.TarOptions{
 		Compression:      options.Compression,
 		IncludeSourceDir: true,
 		IncludeFiles:     includeFiles,
-	})
-
+	}, bundle)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("reading checkpoint directory %q: %w", c.ID(), err)
 	}
@@ -1312,10 +1312,10 @@ func (c *Container) checkpoint(ctx context.Context, options ContainerCheckpointO
 		}
 		defer shmDirTarFile.Close()
 
-		input, err := archive.TarWithOptions(c.config.ShmDir, &archive.TarOptions{
+		input, err := chrootarchive.Tar(c.config.ShmDir, &archive.TarOptions{
 			Compression:      archive.Uncompressed,
 			IncludeSourceDir: true,
-		})
+		}, c.config.ShmDir)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, 0, err
 		}
@@ -1488,7 +1488,7 @@ func (c *Container) importPreCheckpoint(input string) error {
 
 	defer archiveFile.Close()
 
-	err = archive.Untar(archiveFile, c.bundlePath(), nil)
+	err = chrootarchive.Untar(archiveFile, c.bundlePath(), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unpacking of pre-checkpoint archive %s failed: %w", input, err)
 	}
@@ -1751,7 +1751,7 @@ func (c *Container) restore(ctx context.Context, options ContainerCheckpointOpti
 			}
 			defer shmDirTarFile.Close()
 
-			if err := archive.UntarUncompressed(shmDirTarFile, c.config.ShmDir, nil); err != nil {
+			if err := chrootarchive.UntarUncompressed(shmDirTarFile, c.config.ShmDir, nil); err != nil {
 				return nil, 0, err
 			}
 		}
@@ -1791,7 +1791,7 @@ func (c *Container) restore(ctx context.Context, options ContainerCheckpointOpti
 			if mountPoint == "" {
 				return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to import volume %s as it is not mounted: %w", volume.Name(), err)
 			}
-			if err := archive.UntarUncompressed(volumeFile, mountPoint, nil); err != nil {
+			if err := chrootarchive.UntarUncompressed(volumeFile, mountPoint, nil); err != nil {
 				return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("failed to extract volume %s to %s: %w", volumeFilePath, mountPoint, err)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/libpod/oci_conmon_attach_linux.go b/libpod/oci_conmon_attach_linux.go
index 10435ee5e04..fb5a3d39359 100644
--- a/libpod/oci_conmon_attach_linux.go
+++ b/libpod/oci_conmon_attach_linux.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func openUnixSocket(path string) (*net.UnixConn, error) {
-	fd, err := unix.Open(path, unix.O_PATH, 0)
+	fd, err := unix.Open(path, unix.O_PATH|unix.O_CLOEXEC, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/libpod/oci_conmon_exec_common.go b/libpod/oci_conmon_exec_common.go
index 45350f93827..644e561af0d 100644
--- a/libpod/oci_conmon_exec_common.go
+++ b/libpod/oci_conmon_exec_common.go
@@ -510,6 +510,13 @@ func attachExecHTTP(c *Container, sessionID string, r *http.Request, w http.Resp
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// errCh receives deferredErr after all deferred cleanup in this function
+	// has completed. The goroutine below reads from errCh so that it never
+	// races with the deferred functions that may still be writing deferredErr
+	// when holdConnOpen is closed by the caller.
+	errCh := make(chan error, 1)
+	defer func() { errCh <- deferredErr }()
+
 	defer func() {
 		if !pipes.startClosed {
 			errorhandling.CloseQuiet(pipes.startPipe)
@@ -608,7 +615,11 @@ func attachExecHTTP(c *Container, sessionID string, r *http.Request, w http.Resp
 		// Can't be a defer, because this would block the function from
 		// returning.
 		<-holdConnOpen
-		hijackWriteErrorAndClose(deferredErr, c.ID(), isTerminal, httpCon, httpBuf)
+		// Block until all deferred cleanups in attachExecHTTP have run and
+		// the final deferredErr value has been sent to errCh. This avoids
+		// the data race that would occur if we read deferredErr directly
+		// while deferred functions in this function may still be writing it.
+		hijackWriteErrorAndClose(<-errCh, c.ID(), isTerminal, httpCon, httpBuf)
 	}()
 
 	stdoutChan := make(chan error)
diff --git a/libpod/volume.go b/libpod/volume.go
index 0997f6eaf6a..a552f18aa78 100644
--- a/libpod/volume.go
+++ b/libpod/volume.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/plugin"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/utils"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
-	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/directory"
 )
 
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ func (v *Volume) Import(r io.Reader) error {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	if err := archive.Untar(r, mountPoint, nil); err != nil {
+	if err := chrootarchive.Untar(r, mountPoint, nil); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("extracting into volume %s: %w", v.Name(), err)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
index 5cf0ae01711..c874de1e96f 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/compat/images_build.go
@@ -1237,6 +1237,6 @@ func extractTarFile(anchorDir string, r io.ReadCloser) (string, error) {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	err = archive.Untar(r, buildDir, nil)
+	err = chrootarchive.Untar(r, buildDir, nil)
 	return buildDir, err
 }
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/kube.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/kube.go
index 6b6a47e2d0e..fd5e9eee55b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/kube.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/kube.go
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
-	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
-
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/api/handlers/utils"
 	api "github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/api/types"
@@ -23,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gorilla/schema"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"go.podman.io/image/v5/types"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 )
 
 // ExtractPlayReader provide an io.Reader given a http.Request object
@@ -52,7 +51,7 @@ func extractPlayReader(anchorDir string, r *http.Request) (io.Reader, error) {
 		reader = r.Body
 	case "application/x-tar":
 		// un-tar the content
-		err := archive.Untar(r.Body, anchorDir, nil)
+		err := chrootarchive.Untar(r.Body, anchorDir, nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
index dbca037d804..65ebc81d24c 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/quadlets.go
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
-	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
-
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/libpod/define"
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/api/handlers/utils"
@@ -23,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/containers/podman/v5/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/gorilla/schema"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 )
 
 func ListQuadlets(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
@@ -94,7 +93,7 @@ func extractQuadletFiles(tempDir string, r io.ReadCloser) ([]string, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	err = archive.Untar(r, quadletDir, nil)
+	err = chrootarchive.Untar(r, quadletDir, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/system.go b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/system.go
index b4ff77245c4..a6f4cff1cd5 100644
--- a/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/system.go
+++ b/pkg/api/handlers/libpod/system.go
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ func SystemCheck(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		if err != nil {
 			utils.Error(w, http.StatusBadRequest,
 				fmt.Errorf("failed to parse unreferenced_layer_max_age parameter %q for %s: %w", query.UnreferencedLayerMaximumAge, r.URL.String(), err))
+			return
 		}
 		unreferencedLayerMaximumAge = &duration
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/bindings/artifacts/extract.go b/pkg/bindings/artifacts/extract.go
index 6e9e21a94cb..6e8279133d4 100644
--- a/pkg/bindings/artifacts/extract.go
+++ b/pkg/bindings/artifacts/extract.go
@@ -73,7 +73,14 @@ func Extract(ctx context.Context, artifactName string, target string, options *E
 		// If destination isn't a file, extract to target/filename
 		fileTarget := target
 		if targetIsDirectory {
-			fileTarget = filepath.Join(target, header.Name)
+			filename := header.Name
+			// This matches the logic from generateArtifactBlobName().
+			for i := range len(filename) {
+				if os.IsPathSeparator(filename[i]) {
+					return fmt.Errorf("invalid filename: %q cannot contain %c", filename, filename[i])
+				}
+			}
+			fileTarget = filepath.Join(target, filename)
 		}
 
 		if header.Typeflag == tar.TypeReg {
diff --git a/pkg/bindings/images/build.go b/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
index 92745e0590d..8ad8e0518bc 100644
--- a/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
+++ b/pkg/bindings/images/build.go
@@ -1084,6 +1084,10 @@ func build(ctx context.Context, containerFiles []string, options types.BuildOpti
 	return processBuildResponse(response, stdout, saveFormat)
 }
 
+// nTar builds a gzip-compressed tar of sources and returns it as a ReadCloser.
+// sources[0] is the build context directory (walked recursively). Remaining entries
+// are extra regular files (e.g. secrets) that are always archived; exclude patterns
+// apply only to the first source.
 func nTar(excludes []string, sources ...string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	pm, err := fileutils.NewPatternMatcher(excludes)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -1104,6 +1108,7 @@ func nTar(excludes []string, sources ...string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 		defer gw.Close()
 		defer tw.Close()
 		seen := make(map[devino]string)
+		firstSourceAbs := ""
 		for i, src := range sources {
 			source, err := filepath.Abs(src)
 			if err != nil {
@@ -1111,6 +1116,9 @@ func nTar(excludes []string, sources ...string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 				merr = multierror.Append(merr, err)
 				return
 			}
+			if i == 0 {
+				firstSourceAbs = source
+			}
 			err = filepath.WalkDir(source, func(path string, dentry fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
@@ -1144,7 +1152,15 @@ func nTar(excludes []string, sources ...string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 					if !dentry.Type().IsRegular() {
 						return fmt.Errorf("path %s must be a regular file", path)
 					}
-					name = filepath.ToSlash(path)
+					// Additional sources are absolute host paths (Containerfiles passed by path, or
+					// temp files such as secrets placed under the context directory). Strip the
+					// resolved context directory so tar member names are relative to that root,
+					// like entries from the primary walk (i == 0). Using the raw absolute path would
+					// produce members that unpack as a spurious host path tree (e.g. Users/...)
+					// instead of files beside the Dockerfile.
+					// https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/28334
+					after, _ := strings.CutPrefix(path, firstSourceAbs)
+					name = filepath.ToSlash(after)
 				}
 				// If name is absolute path, then it has to be containerfile outside of build context.
 				// If not, we should check it for being excluded via pattern matcher.
diff --git a/pkg/checkpoint/crutils/checkpoint_restore_utils.go b/pkg/checkpoint/crutils/checkpoint_restore_utils.go
index 1709429bad8..652bb0b3357 100644
--- a/pkg/checkpoint/crutils/checkpoint_restore_utils.go
+++ b/pkg/checkpoint/crutils/checkpoint_restore_utils.go
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@ import (
 
 	metadata "github.com/checkpoint-restore/checkpointctl/lib"
 	"github.com/checkpoint-restore/go-criu/v7/stats"
+	securejoin "github.com/cyphar/filepath-securejoin"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/selinux/go-selinux/label"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 )
 
 // This file mainly exists to make the checkpoint/restore functions
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ func CRImportCheckpointWithoutConfig(destination, input string) error {
 			metadata.SpecDumpFile,
 		},
 	}
-	if err = archive.Untar(archiveFile, destination, options); err != nil {
+	if err = chrootarchive.Untar(archiveFile, destination, options); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unpacking of checkpoint archive %s failed: %w", input, err)
 	}
 
@@ -64,7 +66,7 @@ func CRImportCheckpointConfigOnly(destination, input string) error {
 			metadata.CheckpointVolumesDirectory,
 		},
 	}
-	if err = archive.Untar(archiveFile, destination, options); err != nil {
+	if err = chrootarchive.Untar(archiveFile, destination, options); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unpacking of checkpoint archive %s failed: %w", input, err)
 	}
 
@@ -87,7 +89,11 @@ func CRRemoveDeletedFiles(id, baseDirectory, containerRootDirectory string) erro
 	for _, deleteFile := range deletedFiles {
 		// Using RemoveAll as deletedFiles, which is generated from 'podman diff'
 		// lists completely deleted directories as a single entry: 'D /root'.
-		if err := os.RemoveAll(filepath.Join(containerRootDirectory, deleteFile)); err != nil {
+		path, err := securejoin.SecureJoin(containerRootDirectory, deleteFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to resolve path %q in container %s: %w", deleteFile, id, err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(path); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete files from container %s during restore: %w", id, err)
 		}
 	}
@@ -109,7 +115,7 @@ func CRApplyRootFsDiffTar(baseDirectory, containerRootDirectory string) error {
 	}
 	defer rootfsDiffFile.Close()
 
-	if err := archive.Untar(rootfsDiffFile, containerRootDirectory, nil); err != nil {
+	if err := chrootarchive.Untar(rootfsDiffFile, containerRootDirectory, nil); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to apply root file-system diff file %s: %w", rootfsDiffPath, err)
 	}
 
@@ -152,11 +158,11 @@ func CRCreateRootFsDiffTar(changes *[]archive.Change, mountPoint, destination st
 	}
 
 	if len(rootfsIncludeFiles) > 0 {
-		rootfsTar, err := archive.TarWithOptions(mountPoint, &archive.TarOptions{
+		rootfsTar, err := chrootarchive.Tar(mountPoint, &archive.TarOptions{
 			Compression:      archive.Uncompressed,
 			IncludeSourceDir: true,
 			IncludeFiles:     rootfsIncludeFiles,
-		})
+		}, mountPoint)
 		if err != nil {
 			return includeFiles, fmt.Errorf("exporting root file-system diff to %q: %w", rootfsDiffPath, err)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
index bf41e73a440..770368193aa 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/play.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ import (
 	"go.podman.io/common/pkg/secrets"
 	"go.podman.io/image/v5/docker/reference"
 	"go.podman.io/image/v5/types"
-	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/fileutils"
 	yamlv3 "gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
@@ -1503,7 +1503,7 @@ func (ic *ContainerEngine) importVolume(ctx context.Context, vol *libpod.Volume,
 	}
 
 	// dont care if volume is mounted or not we are gonna import everything to mountPoint
-	return archive.Untar(tarFile, mountPoint, nil)
+	return chrootarchive.Untar(tarFile, mountPoint, nil)
 }
 
 // readConfigMapFromFile returns a kubernetes configMap obtained from --configmap flag
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/secrets.go b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/secrets.go
index 2bb2ae2b9c5..37bcdf8c285 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/abi/secrets.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/abi/secrets.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func (ic *ContainerEngine) SecretCreate(_ context.Context, name string, reader i
 	if options.Driver == "" {
 		options.Driver = cfg.Secrets.Driver
 	}
-	if len(options.DriverOpts) == 0 {
+	if len(options.DriverOpts) == 0 && options.Driver == cfg.Secrets.Driver {
 		options.DriverOpts = cfg.Secrets.Opts
 	}
 	if options.DriverOpts == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/images.go b/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/images.go
index 0a86dba08d1..316eedfc4bc 100644
--- a/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/images.go
+++ b/pkg/domain/infra/tunnel/images.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"go.podman.io/image/v5/docker/reference"
 	"go.podman.io/image/v5/types"
 	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/archive"
+	"go.podman.io/storage/pkg/chrootarchive"
 )
 
 func (ir *ImageEngine) Exists(_ context.Context, nameOrID string) (*entities.BoolReport, error) {
@@ -371,7 +372,7 @@ func (ir *ImageEngine) Save(_ context.Context, nameOrID string, tags []string, o
 		return err
 	}
 
-	return archive.Untar(f, opts.Output, &archive.TarOptions{NoLchown: true})
+	return chrootarchive.Untar(f, opts.Output, &archive.TarOptions{NoLchown: true})
 }
 
 func (ir *ImageEngine) Search(_ context.Context, term string, opts entities.ImageSearchOptions) ([]entities.ImageSearchReport, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/pidhandle/pidhandle_linux.go b/pkg/pidhandle/pidhandle_linux.go
index 2420ed86c41..6e0140069f3 100644
--- a/pkg/pidhandle/pidhandle_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/pidhandle/pidhandle_linux.go
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ func NewPIDHandleFromString(pid int, pidData string) (PIDHandle, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		defer unix.Close(fd)
-		pidfd, err := openByHandleAt(fd, fh, 0)
+		pidfd, err := openByHandleAt(fd, fh, unix.O_CLOEXEC)
 		if err != nil {
 			if err == unix.ESTALE {
 				h.normalHandle.pidData = noSuchProcessID
diff --git a/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go b/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
index 0b7c9233d8d..c730e6dfb52 100644
--- a/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
+++ b/pkg/specgen/generate/config_linux.go
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ func addDevice(g *generate.Generator, device string) error {
 	} else if src == "/dev/fuse" {
 		// if the user is asking for fuse inside the container
 		// make sure the module is loaded.
-		f, err := unix.Open(src, unix.O_RDONLY|unix.O_NONBLOCK, 0)
+		f, err := unix.Open(src, unix.O_RDONLY|unix.O_NONBLOCK|unix.O_CLOEXEC, 0)
 		if err == nil {
 			unix.Close(f)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile.go b/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile.go
index 19556e0cd72..30bfd6195ae 100644
--- a/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile.go
+++ b/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile.go
@@ -609,14 +609,20 @@ func (f *UnitFile) LookupLast(groupName string, key string) (string, bool) {
 }
 
 // Look up the last instance of the named key in the group (if any)
-// The result have no trailing whitespace and line continuations are applied
+// The result have no trailing whitespace and line continuations are applied.
+// Surrounding matched double-quote pairs are stripped, but unmatched quotes
+// are preserved to avoid mangling embedded shell syntax.
 func (f *UnitFile) Lookup(groupName string, key string) (string, bool) {
 	v, ok := f.LookupLast(groupName, key)
 	if !ok {
 		return "", false
 	}
 
-	return strings.Trim(strings.TrimRightFunc(v, unicode.IsSpace), "\""), true
+	v = strings.TrimRightFunc(v, unicode.IsSpace)
+	if len(v) >= 2 && v[0] == '"' && v[len(v)-1] == '"' {
+		v = v[1 : len(v)-1]
+	}
+	return v, true
 }
 
 // Lookup the last instance of a key and convert the value to a bool
diff --git a/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile_test.go b/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile_test.go
index 6d1cdc8d3f7..fff4f4445df 100644
--- a/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile_test.go
+++ b/pkg/systemd/parser/unitfile_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package parser
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -341,6 +342,35 @@ Name=my-container
 	assert.Equal(t, "; another comment", comments[1])
 }
 
+func TestLookupQuoteStripping(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		input    string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{`"hello"`, "hello"},
+		{`hello`, "hello"},
+		{`"hello`, `"hello`},
+		{`/bin/sh -c "echo "hello""`, `/bin/sh -c "echo "hello""`},
+		{`"/bin/sh -c "echo "hello"""`, `/bin/sh -c "echo "hello""`},
+		{`""`, ""},
+		{`hello"`, `hello"`},
+		{`/bin/sh -c "echo 'hello world!'"`, `/bin/sh -c "echo 'hello world!'"`},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("Lookup(%q)", tt.input), func(t *testing.T) {
+			unitData := "[Container]\nKey=" + tt.input + "\n"
+			f := NewUnitFile()
+			err := f.Parse(unitData)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			val, ok := f.Lookup("Container", "Key")
+			assert.True(t, ok)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, val)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func FuzzParser(f *testing.F) {
 	for _, sample := range samples {
 		f.Add([]byte(sample))
diff --git a/pkg/systemd/quadlet/quadlet.go b/pkg/systemd/quadlet/quadlet.go
index ea12ac62d41..c4d95d5f4f4 100644
--- a/pkg/systemd/quadlet/quadlet.go
+++ b/pkg/systemd/quadlet/quadlet.go
@@ -675,11 +675,17 @@ func ConvertContainer(container *parser.UnitFile, unitsInfoMap map[string]*UnitI
 		podman.add("--cgroups=split")
 	}
 
+	// Entrypoint needs special handling: an empty value is valid and means
+	// "clear the image entrypoint" (podman run --entrypoint ""), so it
+	// cannot go through lookupAndAddString which skips empty values.
+	if val, ok := container.Lookup(ContainerGroup, KeyEntrypoint); ok {
+		podman.addf("--entrypoint=%s", val)
+	}
+
 	stringKeys := map[string]string{
 		KeyTimezone:    "--tz",
 		KeyPidsLimit:   "--pids-limit",
 		KeyShmSize:     "--shm-size",
-		KeyEntrypoint:  "--entrypoint",
 		KeyWorkingDir:  "--workdir",
 		KeyIP:          "--ip",
 		KeyIP6:         "--ip6",
diff --git a/test/apiv2/python/rest_api/test_v2_0_0_image.py b/test/apiv2/python/rest_api/test_v2_0_0_image.py
index e62b210ebc9..bd37d7a61fd 100644
--- a/test/apiv2/python/rest_api/test_v2_0_0_image.py
+++ b/test/apiv2/python/rest_api/test_v2_0_0_image.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import json
 import unittest
-from multiprocessing import Process
+import multiprocessing as mp
 
 import requests
 from dateutil.parser import parse
@@ -168,9 +168,12 @@ def do_search5():
             self.assertEqual(r.status_code, 400, f"#5: {r.text}")
 
         i = 1
+        # Need to explicitly set start method
+        # # https://docs.python.org/dev/library/multiprocessing.html#contexts-and-start-methods
+        mp.set_start_method('fork')
         for fn in [do_search1, do_search2, do_search3, do_search4, do_search5]:
             with self.subTest(i=i):
-                search = Process(target=fn)
+                search = mp.Process(target=fn)
                 search.start()
                 search.join(timeout=10)
                 self.assertFalse(search.is_alive(), f"#{i} /images/search took too long")
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/secret-verify-leak/Containerfile.with-secret-verify-leak b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/Dockerfile
similarity index 73%
rename from test/e2e/build/secret-verify-leak/Containerfile.with-secret-verify-leak
rename to test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/Dockerfile
index 0957ac6a60d..816b48cdd3e 100644
--- a/test/e2e/build/secret-verify-leak/Containerfile.with-secret-verify-leak
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 FROM alpine
-COPY * /
+COPY . .
+RUN test -e hello
 RUN --mount=type=secret,id=mysecret cat /run/secrets/mysecret
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/hello b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/hello
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..45b983be36b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-copy/hello
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+hi
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/.dockerignore b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..72e8ffc0db8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/Dockerfile b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ccf49a15841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+FROM alpine
+COPY . .
+RUN test ! -e ignored-by-dockerignore.txt
+RUN --mount=type=secret,id=MY_SECRET cat /run/secrets/MY_SECRET
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/host-secret.txt b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/host-secret.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7031a3ed69a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/host-secret.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Super Secret
diff --git a/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/ignored-by-dockerignore.txt b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/ignored-by-dockerignore.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e1a27620db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/ignored-by-dockerignore.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+this file must not appear in the image
diff --git a/test/e2e/build_test.go b/test/e2e/build_test.go
index 36a8585c43a..cb617bb9bfb 100644
--- a/test/e2e/build_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/build_test.go
@@ -89,51 +89,62 @@ var _ = Describe("Podman build", func() {
 	})
 
 	It("podman build with a secret from file", func() {
-		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-secret", "-t", "secret-test", "--secret", "id=mysecret,src=build/secret.txt", "build/"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		image := "secret-test"
+
+		session := podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-secret", "-t", image, "--secret", "id=mysecret,src=build/secret.txt", "build/")
 		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("somesecret"))
 
-		session = podmanTest.Podman([]string{"rmi", "secret-test"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
-	})
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("run", "--rm", image, "sh", "-c", "find / -xdev -name 'podman-build-secret*' -print")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(BeEmpty(), "podman-build-secret path leaked into image")
 
-	It("podman build with a secret from env", func() {
-		os.Setenv("MYSECRET", "somesecret")
-		defer os.Unsetenv("MYSECRET")
-		session := podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-secret", "-t", "secret-test", "--secret", "id=mysecret,env=MYSECRET", "build/")
-		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("somesecret"))
+		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", image)
 
-		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", "secret-test")
-	})
+		// Test for: https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/25314 - file secrets must reach the server when .dockerignore is '*'.
+		image = "e2e-remote-secret-dignore"
 
-	It("podman build with multiple secrets from files", func() {
-		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-multiple-secret", "-t", "multiple-secret-test", "--secret", "id=mysecret,src=build/secret.txt", "--secret", "id=mysecret2,src=build/anothersecret.txt", "build/"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/Dockerfile", "-t", image, "--secret", "id=MY_SECRET,type=file,src=build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star/host-secret.txt", "build/remote-secret-dockerignore-star")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("Super Secret"))
+
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("run", "--rm", image, "sh", "-c", "find / -xdev -name 'podman-build-secret*' -print")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(BeEmpty(), "podman-build-secret path leaked into image")
+
+		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", image)
+
+		// build with multiple secrets from files
+		image = "multiple-secret-test"
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-multiple-secret", "-t", image, "--secret", "id=mysecret,src=build/secret.txt", "--secret", "id=mysecret2,src=build/anothersecret.txt", "build/")
 		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("somesecret"))
 		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("anothersecret"))
 
-		session = podmanTest.Podman([]string{"rmi", "multiple-secret-test"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("run", "--rm", image, "sh", "-c", "find / -xdev -name 'podman-build-secret*' -print")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(BeEmpty(), "podman-build-secret path leaked into image")
+
+		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", image)
 	})
 
-	It("podman build with a secret from file and verify if secret file is not leaked into image", func() {
-		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{"build", "-f", "build/secret-verify-leak/Containerfile.with-secret-verify-leak", "-t", "secret-test-leak", "--secret", "id=mysecret,src=build/secret.txt", "build/secret-verify-leak"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
-		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring("somesecret"))
+	It("podman build with a secret from env", func() {
+		secret := "somesecretvalue"
+		GinkgoT().Setenv("MYSECRET", secret)
+		image := "secret-test"
 
-		session = podmanTest.Podman([]string{"run", "--rm", "secret-test-leak", "ls"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
-		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(Not(ContainSubstring("podman-build-secret")))
+		session := podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/Containerfile.with-secret", "-t", image, "--secret", "id=mysecret,env=MYSECRET", "build/")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring(secret))
 
-		session = podmanTest.Podman([]string{"rmi", "secret-test-leak"})
-		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
-		Expect(session).Should(ExitCleanly())
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("run", "--rm", image, "sh", "-c", "find / -xdev -name 'podman-build-secret*' -print")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(BeEmpty(), "podman-build-secret path leaked into image")
+
+		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", image)
+
+		// Test for: https://github.com/containers/podman/issues/28334 - env secrets + COPY must not add host-shaped podman-build-secret paths to the image.
+		image = "e2e-remote-secret-copy"
+
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("build", "-f", "build/remote-secret-copy/Dockerfile", "-t", image, "--secret", "id=mysecret,env=MYSECRET", "build/remote-secret-copy")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(ContainSubstring(secret))
+
+		session = podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("run", "--rm", image, "sh", "-c", "find / -xdev -name 'podman-build-secret*' -print")
+		Expect(session.OutputToString()).To(BeEmpty(), "podman-build-secret path leaked into image")
+
+		podmanTest.PodmanExitCleanly("rmi", image)
 	})
 
 	It("podman build with not found Containerfile or Dockerfile", func() {
diff --git a/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint-empty.container b/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint-empty.container
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..743a091e500
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint-empty.container
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## assert-podman-final-args localhost/imagename
+## assert-podman-args "--entrypoint="
+
+[Container]
+Image=localhost/imagename
+Entrypoint=
diff --git a/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint.container b/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint.container
index d72b1cd4c53..a1d747d7549 100644
--- a/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint.container
+++ b/test/e2e/quadlet/entrypoint.container
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ## assert-podman-final-args localhost/imagename
-## assert-podman-args "--entrypoint" "top -b"
+## assert-podman-args "--entrypoint=top -b"
 
 [Container]
 Image=localhost/imagename
diff --git a/test/e2e/quadlet/health-cmd-shell-quotes.container b/test/e2e/quadlet/health-cmd-shell-quotes.container
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4cbd4dfd4e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/e2e/quadlet/health-cmd-shell-quotes.container
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[Container]
+Image=localhost/imagename
+## assert-podman-args "--health-cmd" "/bin/sh -c \"echo 'hello world!'\""
+HealthCmd=/bin/sh -c "echo 'hello world!'"
diff --git a/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go b/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
index a7df96b8730..c027a175ff8 100644
--- a/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/quadlet_test.go
@@ -912,10 +912,12 @@ BOGUS=foo
 		Entry("env-host.container", "env-host.container"),
 		Entry("env.container", "env.container"),
 		Entry("entrypoint.container", "entrypoint.container"),
+		Entry("entrypoint-empty.container", "entrypoint-empty.container"),
 		Entry("escapes.container", "escapes.container"),
 		Entry("exec.container", "exec.container"),
 		Entry("group-add.container", "group-add.container"),
 		Entry("health.container", "health.container"),
+		Entry("health-cmd-shell-quotes.container", "health-cmd-shell-quotes.container"),
 		Entry("host.container", "host.container"),
 		Entry("httpproxy-false.container", "httpproxy-false.container"),
 		Entry("httpproxy-true.container", "httpproxy-true.container"),
diff --git a/test/e2e/secret_test.go b/test/e2e/secret_test.go
index cbf02faf04a..2b8fca97b09 100644
--- a/test/e2e/secret_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/secret_test.go
@@ -508,6 +508,25 @@ var _ = Describe("Podman secret", func() {
 		Expect(exists).Should(ExitWithError(1, ""))
 	})
 
+	It("podman secret create with non-default driver does not inherit default driver opts", func() {
+		secretFilePath := filepath.Join(podmanTest.TempDir, "secret")
+		err := os.WriteFile(secretFilePath, []byte("mysecret"), 0o755)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+		// Create a secret with driver=shell but no --driver-opts.
+		// Before the fix, the file driver's default "path" opt bled
+		// into the shell driver, causing "invalid shell driver option".
+		// After the fix, the shell driver correctly receives no
+		// foreign opts and fails only because its required commands
+		// (store, lookup, list, delete) are not configured.
+		session := podmanTest.Podman([]string{
+			"secret", "create", "-d", "shell",
+			"shell-secret", secretFilePath,
+		})
+		session.WaitWithDefaultTimeout()
+		Expect(session).Should(ExitWithError(125, "missing config value"))
+	})
+
 	It("podman secret create from stdin", func() {
 		secretData := "mysecretdata"
 		secretName := "stdin-secret-" + stringid.GenerateRandomID()
diff --git a/test/system/195-run-namespaces.bats b/test/system/195-run-namespaces.bats
index 230669d15be..fadcbb60dd8 100644
--- a/test/system/195-run-namespaces.bats
+++ b/test/system/195-run-namespaces.bats
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ uts    | uts
             if [[ "$option" = "pid" ]] && is_rootless && ! is_remote && [[ "$(podman_runtime)" = "runc" ]]; then
                 # Replace "pid:[1234567]" with "pid:\[1234567\]"
                 con1_ns_esc="${con1_ns//[\[\]]/\\&}"
-                assert "$con2_ns" =~ "${con1_ns_esc}.*warning .*" "($name) namespace matches (type: $type)"
+                assert "$con2_ns" =~ "${con1_ns_esc}" "($name) namespace matches (type: $type)"
             else
                 assert "$con1_ns" == "$con2_ns" "($name) namespace matches (type: $type)"
             fi
diff --git a/test/upgrade/README.md b/test/upgrade/README.md
index bd70a5f0be2..c03667f8117 100644
--- a/test/upgrade/README.md
+++ b/test/upgrade/README.md
@@ -21,22 +21,19 @@ container image from quay.io/podman, uses it to create and run
 a number of containers, then uses new-podman to interact with
 those containers.
 
-As of 2024-02-05 the available old-podman versions are:
+Testing updates from versions earlier than v5.3.1 fails. Testing updates from
+tags that do not respect semantic versioning fails too (e.g. v5.6.0-immutable or
+v5.6). As of 2025-11-18 the available old-podman versions to test against are:
 
 ```console
-$ bin/podman search --list-tags --limit=400 quay.io/podman/stable | awk '$2 ~ /^v/ { print $2}' | sort | column -c 75
-v1.4.2  v1.9.1  v3.2.0  v3.4.0  v4.1.0  v4.3.1  v4.5.1  v4.8
-v1.4.4  v2.0.2  v3.2.1  v3.4.1  v4.1.1  v4.4    v4.6    v4.8.0
-v1.5.0  v2.0.6  v3.2.2  v3.4.2  v4.2    v4.4.1  v4.6.1  v4.8.1
-v1.5.1  v2.1.1  v3.2.3  v3.4.4  v4.2.0  v4.4.2  v4.6.2  v4.8.2
-v1.6    v2.2.1  v3.3.0  v3.4.7  v4.2.1  v4.4.4  v4.7    v4.8.3
-v1.6.2  v3      v3.3.1  v4      v4.3    v4.5    v4.7.0  v4.9
-v1.9.0  v3.1.2  v3.4    v4.1    v4.3.0  v4.5.0  v4.7.2  v4.9.0
+$ bin/podman search --list-tags --limit=400 quay.io/podman/stable | awk '$2 ~ /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$/ { print $2}' | sort | awk '/v5.3.1/,0' | column -c 75
+v5.3.1  v5.4.0  v5.4.2  v5.5.1  v5.6.0  v5.6.2
+v5.3.2  v5.4.1  v5.5.0  v5.5.2  v5.6.1
 ```
 
 Test invocation is:
 ```console
-$ sudo env PODMAN=bin/podman PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM=v4.1.0 PODMAN_UPGRADE_TEST_DEBUG= bats test/upgrade
+$ sudo env PODMAN=bin/podman PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM=v5.3.1 PODMAN_UPGRADE_TEST_DEBUG= bats test/upgrade
 ```
 (Path assumes you're cd'ed to top-level podman repo). `PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM`
 can be any of the versions above. `PODMAN_UPGRADE_TEST_DEBUG` is empty
diff --git a/test/upgrade/test-upgrade.bats b/test/upgrade/test-upgrade.bats
index 4760aac2165..df10f02619c 100644
--- a/test/upgrade/test-upgrade.bats
+++ b/test/upgrade/test-upgrade.bats
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ setup() {
     # the default c/storage behavior is to make the mount propagation private.
     export _PODMAN_TEST_OPTS="--storage-opt=skip_mount_home=true --cgroup-manager=cgroupfs --root=$PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/root --runroot=$PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/runroot --tmpdir=$PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/tmp"
 
-    # Old netavark used iptables but newer versions might uses nftables.
-    # Networking can only work correctly if both use the same firewall driver so force iptables.
-    printf "[network]\nfirewall_driver=\"iptables\"\n" > $PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/containers.conf
+
+    # Starting with v6.0.0 we only test upgrade from versions that support nftables.
+    printf "[network]\nfirewall_driver=\"nftables\"\n" > $PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/containers.conf
     export CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE=$PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR/containers.conf
 }
 
@@ -64,21 +64,6 @@ setup() {
     OLD_PODMAN=quay.io/podman/stable:$PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM
     $PODMAN pull $OLD_PODMAN
 
-    # Can't mix-and-match iptables.
-    # This can only fail when we bring in new CI VMs. If/when it does fail,
-    # we'll need to figure out how to solve it. Until then, punt.
-    iptables_old_version=$($PODMAN run --rm $OLD_PODMAN iptables -V)
-    run -0 expr "$iptables_old_version" : ".*(\(.*\))"
-    iptables_old_which="$output"
-
-    iptables_new_version=$(iptables -V)
-    run -0 expr "$iptables_new_version" : ".*(\(.*\))"
-    iptables_new_which="$output"
-
-    if [[ "$iptables_new_which" != "$iptables_old_which" ]]; then
-        die "Cannot mix iptables; $PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM container uses $iptables_old_which, host uses $iptables_new_which"
-    fi
-
     # Shortcut name, because we're referencing it a lot
     pmroot=$PODMAN_UPGRADE_WORKDIR
 
@@ -227,8 +212,10 @@ EOF
 
 @test "images" {
     run_podman images -a --format '{{.Names}}'
-    assert "${lines[0]}" =~ "\[localhost/podman-pause:${PODMAN_UPGRADE_FROM##v}-.*\]" "podman images, line 0"
-    assert "${lines[1]}" = "[$IMAGE]" "podman images, line 1"
+    # Filter out the podman-pause image which isn't present for
+    # versions >= 5.5.0
+    run -0 grep -v "localhost/podman-pause" <<< "$output"
+    assert "${lines[0]}" = "[$IMAGE]" "podman images, line 0"
 }
 
 @test "ps : one container running" {