diff --git a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
index f97cd0b5..dbebe30b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-latest, ubuntu-24.04-arm]
+        os: [ubuntu-24.04, ubuntu-24.04-arm]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
       - uses: erlef/setup-beam@54075bcc5e249e4758d363f27d099f55d843f124 # v1.24.1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gate.yml b/.github/workflows/gate.yml
index 2fbddf32..c3003674 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gate.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gate.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,10 @@ on:
 # quotes it. `fail-fast: false` so one leg's red does not hide another's measurement.
 #
 # THE BOX LEG: the pair a fielded edge box runs (OTP 28 at a patched release, Elixir 1.20), on
-# the architecture it runs on (aarch64, GitHub's arm64 runner, free for public repositories).
+# the architecture it runs on (aarch64, GitHub's arm64 runner, free for public repositories),
+# over the OpenSSL line the box's image pins (3.5 or later): Ubuntu 26.04's runner ships 3.5.5,
+# and builds.hex.pm's OTP for it links that, where 24.04's links 3.0.13. Every runner is named
+# by its image, never `-latest`, so an image moves only in a commit (governance_test.exs).
 # Its versions are exact (`version-type: strict`), not "the newest 28": the box pins its
 # runtime, so the leg does too. Every leg's gate runs the OTP floor step (tools/otp_floor.sh),
 # so a resolution below a line's patched floor is a red leg, not a green one on a vulnerable
@@ -49,10 +52,10 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         include:
-          - { leg: floor,  otp: "27", elixir: "1.17", os: ubuntu-latest, version-type: loose }
-          - { leg: pinned, otp: "28", elixir: "1.18", os: ubuntu-latest, version-type: loose }
-          - { leg: head,   otp: "29", elixir: "1.20", os: ubuntu-latest, version-type: loose }
-          - { leg: box,    otp: "28.5.0.8", elixir: "1.20.4", os: ubuntu-24.04-arm, version-type: strict }
+          - { leg: floor,  otp: "27", elixir: "1.17", os: ubuntu-24.04, version-type: loose }
+          - { leg: pinned, otp: "28", elixir: "1.18", os: ubuntu-24.04, version-type: loose }
+          - { leg: head,   otp: "29", elixir: "1.20", os: ubuntu-24.04, version-type: loose }
+          - { leg: box,    otp: "28.5.0.8", elixir: "1.20.4", os: ubuntu-26.04-arm, version-type: strict }
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
@@ -93,7 +96,7 @@ jobs:
   # script, so its contents cannot be run as a command.
   pr-body:
     name: Gate - pull-request body
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
@@ -114,7 +117,7 @@ jobs:
 
   summary:
     name: Gate - quality gate
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     needs: [gate, pr-body]
     if: always()
     # The edited path may wait up to 20 minutes for running legs (tools/ci_legs_verdict.sh's
@@ -139,7 +142,7 @@ jobs:
             # the REQUIRED context, and a fresh green under that name on a commit whose legs
             # this run never read would let a title edit stand a green beside a red (a review
             # lane's finding). So the legs' verdicts for this head SHA are read from the checks
-            # API -- the latest run of each leg name -- and all three must be success. The
+            # API -- the latest run of each leg name -- and all four must be success. The
             # read WAITS for legs still running (G-079: an edit during the synchronize run read
             # null conclusions, failed, and the ruleset blocked on that red beside the later
             # green); tools/ci_legs_verdict.sh polls to a bound, and its probe runs offline.
@@ -152,7 +155,7 @@ jobs:
 
   dco:
     name: Gate - DCO sign-off
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@3d3c42e5aac5ba805825da76410c181273ba90b1 # v7.0.1
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/provenance.yml b/.github/workflows/provenance.yml
index 46604ba8..1de53c03 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/provenance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/provenance.yml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
   attest:
     name: Provenance - build, attest, verify
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     permissions:
       contents: read
       id-token: write
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml b/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
index 3883e6f7..f262b49d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/scorecard.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ permissions: read-all
 jobs:
   analysis:
     name: Scorecard - the measurement
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     permissions:
       # The action's documented needs: SARIF upload and the OIDC token that publish_results
       # signs the result with. Nothing writes to the tree.
diff --git a/docs/assurance-case.md b/docs/assurance-case.md
index df1e2f10..99f6f797 100644
--- a/docs/assurance-case.md
+++ b/docs/assurance-case.md
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ partial scheme.
 
 ## How the case is kept true
 
-- The gate runs on every push on four OTP/Elixir legs (three pairs on x86_64, and the box pair, OTP 28.5.0.8 with Elixir 1.20.4, on aarch64), each held to its line's patched OTP floor; the censuses above fail when the code
+- The gate runs on every push on four OTP/Elixir legs (three pairs on x86_64, and the box pair, OTP 28.5.0.8 with Elixir 1.20.4, on aarch64 over the OpenSSL 3.5 line the box's image pins; every runner named by its image, so none moves without a commit), each held to its line's patched OTP floor; the censuses above fail when the code
   they describe changes.
 - The threat model's citations and the will-not-implement page's entries are each held to the
   test suite by a census of their own.
diff --git a/test/beam_mcp/governance_test.exs b/test/beam_mcp/governance_test.exs
index ccb67f91..96c34a13 100644
--- a/test/beam_mcp/governance_test.exs
+++ b/test/beam_mcp/governance_test.exs
@@ -70,6 +70,27 @@ defmodule BeamMCP.GovernanceTest do
     end
   end
 
+  # A `-latest` label is moved by GitHub, not by a commit: `ubuntu-latest` becomes 26.04 in
+  # November 2026 (actions/runner-images#14748), which changes the OpenSSL every such leg links
+  # (3.0.13 to 3.5.5) with nothing in this tree's history to say so. Named images move only in
+  # a commit, as the pins on actions do.
+  test "every job names its runner image by version: no -latest label, and a matrix supplies only named images" do
+    for wf <- @workflows,
+        {line, n} <- Enum.with_index(String.split(File.read!(wf), "\n"), 1) do
+      refute line =~ ~r/\b[a-z]+-latest\b/,
+             "#{wf}:#{n} names a moving runner label: #{String.trim(line)}"
+
+      if line =~ ~r/^\s*runs-on:/ do
+        assert line =~ ~r/runs-on:\s+(ubuntu-\d\d\.\d\d(-arm)?|\$\{\{ matrix\.os \}\})\s*$/,
+               "#{wf}:#{n} runs on something other than a named image: #{String.trim(line)}"
+      end
+
+      for [image] <- Regex.scan(~r/\bubuntu-[a-z0-9.]+(?:-arm)?\b/, line) do
+        assert image =~ ~r/^ubuntu-\d\d\.\d\d(-arm)?$/, "#{wf}:#{n} names #{image}"
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   test "every workflow declares top-level permissions, and write permissions live on the job that needs them" do
     for wf <- @workflows do
       text = File.read!(wf)