diff --git a/images/golden/Dockerfile b/images/golden/Dockerfile
index 6b15a77..51c7b3e 100644
--- a/images/golden/Dockerfile
+++ b/images/golden/Dockerfile
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
 # -------- 1. ESSENTIAL --------
 # Banger needs: an init (systemd + udev + dbus), sshd (the only
 # control channel), TLS roots + curl (first-boot installs + mise
-# installer), iproute2 (debugging; `ip` is still useful even when
-# the kernel sets IP via cmdline).
+# installer), gnupg (build-time signing-key verification for the
+# Docker apt repo), iproute2 (debugging; `ip` is still useful even
+# when the kernel sets IP via cmdline).
 #
 # udev is a Recommends of the systemd package on Debian. With
 # --no-install-recommends it's skipped — and without it systemd never
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ RUN apt-get update \
       openssh-server \
       ca-certificates \
       curl \
+      gnupg \
       iproute2 \
  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
@@ -55,25 +57,57 @@ RUN apt-get update \
 # Docker CE (with Compose v2 + buildx) from the official apt repo.
 # Nested-VM docker gives Compose workflows hostname/port isolation
 # per banger VM, which is a big part of the sandbox story.
-RUN install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings \
- && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc \
- && chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc \
- && printf 'deb [arch=%s signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian bookworm stable\n' \
-      "$(dpkg --print-architecture)" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list \
- && apt-get update \
- && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+#
+# The apt key is verified against its published fingerprint before
+# we commit it to the signed-by keyring, so a tampered download (or
+# a TLS compromise against download.docker.com) cannot silently
+# swap in an attacker-controlled signing key. Fingerprint source:
+#   https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/debian/#install-using-the-repository
+RUN set -eu; \
+    expected_fpr=9DC858229FC7DD38854AE2D88D81803C0EBFCD88; \
+    install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings; \
+    curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /tmp/docker.asc; \
+    got="$(gpg --with-colons --show-keys --fingerprint /tmp/docker.asc | awk -F: '/^fpr:/ {print $10; exit}')"; \
+    if [ "$got" != "$expected_fpr" ]; then \
+      echo "docker apt key fingerprint mismatch: got $got, want $expected_fpr" >&2; \
+      exit 1; \
+    fi; \
+    mv /tmp/docker.asc /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc; \
+    chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc; \
+    printf 'deb [arch=%s signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian bookworm stable\n' \
+      "$(dpkg --print-architecture)" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list; \
+    apt-get update; \
+    apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
       docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io \
-      docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin \
- && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+      docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin; \
+    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-# mise — per-repo version manager. Installed system-wide so the
-# bashrc activation reaches every shell.
-RUN curl -fsSL https://mise.run | MISE_INSTALL_PATH=/usr/local/bin/mise sh \
- && chmod 0755 /usr/local/bin/mise \
- && install -d /etc/profile.d \
- && printf '%s\n' 'if [ -x /usr/local/bin/mise ]; then eval "$(/usr/local/bin/mise activate bash)"; fi' \
-      > /etc/profile.d/mise.sh \
- && chmod 0644 /etc/profile.d/mise.sh
+# mise — per-repo version manager. Installed from a pinned GitHub
+# release asset rather than `curl https://mise.run | sh` so a compromise
+# of the installer endpoint can't silently push arbitrary code into
+# the golden image.
+#
+# Update protocol: bump MISE_VERSION + MISE_SHA256 together. Source
+# for the hash is the `digest` field on the release asset from
+# `gh release view --repo jdx/mise --json assets`, or compute from
+# the downloaded file and cross-reference against SHASUMS256.txt on
+# the release page.
+ARG MISE_VERSION=v2026.4.18
+ARG MISE_SHA256_AMD64=6ae2d5f0f23a2f2149bc5d9bf264fe0922a1da843f1903e453516c462b23cc1f
+RUN set -eux; \
+    arch="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"; \
+    if [ "$arch" != "amd64" ]; then \
+      echo "mise pin only tracks amd64; add a ${arch} hash to refresh" >&2; \
+      exit 1; \
+    fi; \
+    curl -fsSL -o /tmp/mise "https://github.com/jdx/mise/releases/download/${MISE_VERSION}/mise-${MISE_VERSION}-linux-x64"; \
+    echo "${MISE_SHA256_AMD64}  /tmp/mise" | sha256sum -c -; \
+    install -m 0755 /tmp/mise /usr/local/bin/mise; \
+    rm /tmp/mise; \
+    install -d /etc/profile.d; \
+    printf '%s\n' 'if [ -x /usr/local/bin/mise ]; then eval "$(/usr/local/bin/mise activate bash)"; fi' \
+      > /etc/profile.d/mise.sh; \
+    chmod 0644 /etc/profile.d/mise.sh
 
 # Default branch for any git init inside the sandbox.
 RUN git config --system init.defaultBranch main
diff --git a/scripts/make-generic-kernel.sh b/scripts/make-generic-kernel.sh
index a67a6b0..c732048 100755
--- a/scripts/make-generic-kernel.sh
+++ b/scripts/make-generic-kernel.sh
@@ -44,18 +44,70 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
   esac
 done
 
-for tool in curl tar make gcc; do
+for tool in curl tar xz make gcc gpg gpgv; do
   command -v "$tool" >/dev/null 2>&1 || { log "missing required tool: $tool"; exit 1; }
 done
 [[ -f "$CONFIG" ]] || { log "config not found: $CONFIG"; exit 1; }
 
+# kernel.org release signing keys. Stable (Greg KH) signs most point
+# releases; mainline (Linus) signs .0 drops; Sasha Levin sometimes
+# signs longterm backports. Listing all three keeps the script
+# working across every release channel the user might pick. Rotations
+# are rare and announced; update this list if gpg complains.
+#
+# Fingerprints verified against kernel.org:
+#   https://www.kernel.org/signature.html
+KERNEL_SIGNING_KEYS=(
+  647F28654894E3BD457199BE38DBBDC86092693E  # Greg Kroah-Hartman
+  ABAF11C65A2970B130ABE3C479BE3E4300411886  # Linus Torvalds
+  E27E5D8A3403A2EF66873BBCDEA66FF797772CDC  # Sasha Levin
+)
+
 TARBALL="linux-${KERNEL_VERSION}.tar.xz"
-URL="https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v${KERNEL_MAJOR}.x/$TARBALL"
+SIGNATURE="linux-${KERNEL_VERSION}.tar.sign"
+BASE_URL="https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v${KERNEL_MAJOR}.x"
 SRC_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
 trap 'rm -rf "$SRC_DIR"' EXIT
 
-log "downloading kernel $KERNEL_VERSION from $URL"
-curl -fSL --progress-bar -o "$SRC_DIR/$TARBALL" "$URL"
+# Isolated GNUPGHOME so the verification step can't accidentally
+# trust whatever the invoking user already has in their keyring. The
+# trap above cleans the whole SRC_DIR, including this.
+GPG_HOME="$SRC_DIR/gnupg"
+install -d -m 0700 "$GPG_HOME"
+export GNUPGHOME="$GPG_HOME"
+
+log "importing kernel.org signing keys"
+# keyserver.ubuntu.com first: it returns keys with user IDs intact,
+# which gpg needs to mark the key as usable. keys.openpgp.org (the
+# current SKS successor) strips unverified UIDs on upload, and the
+# kernel.org devs haven't all completed its email verification flow,
+# so pulling from there returns UID-less keys that gpg then refuses
+# to trust. We fall back to it anyway in case ubuntu is unreachable.
+if ! gpg --batch --keyserver hkps://keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys "${KERNEL_SIGNING_KEYS[@]}" 2>/dev/null; then
+  log "key fetch from keyserver.ubuntu.com failed; trying keys.openpgp.org"
+  gpg --batch --keyserver hkps://keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys "${KERNEL_SIGNING_KEYS[@]}"
+fi
+
+log "downloading kernel $KERNEL_VERSION from $BASE_URL/$TARBALL"
+curl -fSL --progress-bar -o "$SRC_DIR/$TARBALL" "$BASE_URL/$TARBALL"
+curl -fSL --progress-bar -o "$SRC_DIR/$SIGNATURE" "$BASE_URL/$SIGNATURE"
+
+log "verifying signature"
+# The .tar.sign is a detached signature over the *uncompressed* tar,
+# per kernel.org convention. Pipe the xz-decompressed stream into
+# gpg --verify so we never materialise an unverified tarball on disk.
+# Require VALIDSIG (the cryptographic proof — GOODSIG alone is
+# printed even for expired/revoked keys, VALIDSIG requires a usable
+# key and a mathematically valid signature).
+VERIFY_STATUS="$SRC_DIR/verify.status"
+xz -cd "$SRC_DIR/$TARBALL" | gpg --batch --status-fd 3 --verify "$SRC_DIR/$SIGNATURE" - 3>"$VERIFY_STATUS" 2>/dev/null || true
+if ! grep -qE '^\[GNUPG:\] VALIDSIG' "$VERIFY_STATUS"; then
+  log "signature verification FAILED — refusing to build"
+  log "gpg status:"
+  cat "$VERIFY_STATUS" >&2 || true
+  exit 1
+fi
+log "signature OK (signed by $(awk '/^\[GNUPG:\] VALIDSIG/ {print $3}' "$VERIFY_STATUS"))"
 
 log "extracting"
 tar -xf "$SRC_DIR/$TARBALL" -C "$SRC_DIR" --strip-components=1