diff --git a/.github/dependabot.yml b/.github/dependabot.yml
index 69f6d30dd..93585c20b 100644
--- a/.github/dependabot.yml
+++ b/.github/dependabot.yml
@@ -11,3 +11,7 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       interval: "daily"
     versioning-strategy: increase
+  - package-ecosystem: "github-actions"
+    directory: "/" # Scans .github/workflows for action/reusable-workflow refs
+    schedule:
+      interval: "weekly"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/linting.yml b/.github/workflows/linting.yml
index 7f40d4f93..7232c32bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linting.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linting.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ on:
     - main
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
 jobs:
   call-workflow-passing-data:
     name: Documentation
-    uses: ROCm/rocm-docs-core/.github/workflows/linting.yml@develop
+    uses: ROCm/rocm-docs-core/.github/workflows/linting.yml@b623885e7e4fe2f87bd2898d8ea0e2c4ded2eca1  # v1.35.0
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8d7f51911..1c27b74c5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@
 /helm-charts-k8s/charts/*.tgz
 *.out
 
-# node app for e2e test
-id_rsa*
-nodeapp
+# node app for e2e test (ephemeral build artifacts, not the source dir)
+/tests/e2e/nodeapp/id_rsa*
+/tests/e2e/nodeapp/nodeapp
 
 # Sphinx documentation
 _build/
diff --git a/Dockerfile.build b/Dockerfile.build
index 7d3b5bb96..8cf306fcf 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.build
+++ b/Dockerfile.build
@@ -54,9 +54,12 @@ RUN wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.26.4.linux-amd64.tar.gz && \
 
 ENV PATH="/usr/local/go/bin:${PATH}"
 
-RUN curl -fsSL -o get_helm.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 && \
-    chmod 700 get_helm.sh && \
-    ./get_helm.sh && rm get_helm.sh
+ARG HELM_VERSION=v3.19.0
+ARG HELM_SHA256=a7f81ce08007091b86d8bd696eb4d86b8d0f2e1b9f6c714be62f82f96a594496
+RUN curl -fsSL -o helm.tar.gz "https://get.helm.sh/helm-${HELM_VERSION}-linux-amd64.tar.gz" && \
+    echo "${HELM_SHA256}  helm.tar.gz" | sha256sum -c - && \
+    tar -xzf helm.tar.gz --strip-components=1 -C /usr/local/bin linux-amd64/helm && \
+    rm helm.tar.gz
 
 RUN curl -sSL https://github.com/arttor/helmify/releases/download/v0.4.13/helmify_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz \
     -o helmify_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz && \
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 762ef0701..9cb55fa9f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ DOCKER_CACHE_FROM ?=
 DOCKER_CACHE_TO ?=
 GOLANG_BASE_IMG ?= golang:1.26.4
 OPERATOR_CONTROLLER_BASE_IMAGE ?= registry.access.redhat.com/ubi9/ubi-minimal:9.7
+# Helm binary installed into the build-shell image (Dockerfile.build). Pin the
+# version and its published sha256 together; bump both when upgrading.
+HELM_VERSION ?= v3.19.0
+HELM_SHA256 ?= a7f81ce08007091b86d8bd696eb4d86b8d0f2e1b9f6c714be62f82f96a594496
 
 ##################
 # Documentation website build variables
@@ -376,6 +380,8 @@ docker-build-env: ## Build the docker shell container.
 		-t $(DOCKER_BUILDER_IMAGE) \
 		--build-arg BUILD_BASE_IMG=$(BUILD_BASE_IMG) \
 		--build-arg INSECURE_REGISTRY=$(INSECURE_REGISTRY) \
+		--build-arg HELM_VERSION=$(HELM_VERSION) \
+		--build-arg HELM_SHA256=$(HELM_SHA256) \
 		$(if $(DOCKER_CACHE_FROM),--cache-from=$(DOCKER_CACHE_FROM)) \
 		$(if $(DOCKER_CACHE_TO),--cache-to=$(DOCKER_CACHE_TO)) \
 		--load \
diff --git a/tests/e2e/nodeapp/.dockerignore b/tests/e2e/nodeapp/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2909d9754
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/nodeapp/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Keep the build context minimal — only the runtime artifacts referenced by
+# COPY in the Dockerfile are needed. The ephemeral, per-build SSH keypair
+# (id_rsa/id_rsa.pub, regenerated by `make docker-build`) is intentionally
+# copied in and must NOT be excluded here.
+*
+!nodeapp
+!id_rsa
+!id_rsa.pub
+!docker-entrypoint.sh
+!docker-exitpoint.sh
diff --git a/tests/e2e/nodeapp/Dockerfile b/tests/e2e/nodeapp/Dockerfile
index 2eb39b356..0bafbfc9e 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/nodeapp/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/e2e/nodeapp/Dockerfile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-FROM alpine:3.7
+FROM alpine:3.22@sha256:14358309a308569c32bdc37e2e0e9694be33a9d99e68afb0f5ff33cc1f695dce
 
 RUN apk update && apk add openssh-client bash