diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 058879c9..38b7a3e3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -39,18 +39,27 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build application
         run: pnpm run build
 
-      - name: Set up QEMU
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
-
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
-
-      - name: Login to Docker Hub
-        id: docker-login
-        uses: docker/login-action@v3
-        with:
-          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
+      # The Docker build/push that used to live here has been REMOVED.
+      #
+      # It pushed nself/nself-admin:<version>, :<major>.<minor>, :<major> and
+      # :latest with `push: true` and NO vulnerability scan, on the same
+      # `push: tags: v*` trigger as docker-publish.yml. docker-publish.yml has a
+      # Trivy CRITICAL gate; this workflow did not. So every tag push raced two
+      # publishers, and the ungated one could ship an image the gate had just
+      # rejected — which makes the gate decorative.
+      #
+      # That is exactly what happened on v1.3.6 (2026-09-12): docker-publish
+      # correctly blocked on four CRITICAL Go stdlib CVEs in mkcert, while this
+      # workflow was mid-push of the same image and had to be cancelled by hand
+      # to keep :latest from moving to a known-vulnerable build.
+      #
+      # Image publication now belongs to docker-publish.yml alone — it owns the
+      # Trivy gate, the multi-arch manifest verification, and the NSELF_VERSION
+      # build-arg that this job did not even pass. This workflow owns the GitHub
+      # Release only. Do not reintroduce a push here without the gate.
+      #
+      # Security-Always-Free doctrine: a security gate that another workflow can
+      # walk around is not a gate.
 
       - name: Extract version from tag
         id: version
@@ -60,36 +69,6 @@ jobs:
           echo "major=$(echo $VERSION | cut -d. -f1)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "minor=$(echo $VERSION | cut -d. -f1-2)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Extract metadata
-        if: steps.docker-login.outcome == 'success'
-        id: meta
-        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
-        with:
-          images: ${{ env.DOCKER_IMAGE }}
-          tags: |
-            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
-            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
-            type=semver,pattern={{major}}
-            type=raw,value=latest
-
-      - name: Build and push Docker image
-        if: steps.docker-login.outcome == 'success'
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
-        with:
-          context: .
-          push: true
-          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
-          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
-          cache-from: type=registry,ref=${{ env.DOCKER_IMAGE }}:buildcache
-          cache-to: type=registry,ref=${{ env.DOCKER_IMAGE }}:buildcache,mode=max
-
-      - name: Docker Hub credentials not configured
-        if: steps.docker-login.outcome != 'success'
-        run: |
-          echo "::warning::Docker Hub credentials not configured. Skipping Docker image build."
-          echo "To enable Docker image publishing, add DOCKERHUB_USERNAME and DOCKERHUB_TOKEN secrets to this repository."
-
       - name: Generate changelog
         id: changelog
         uses: metcalfc/changelog-generator@v4.1.0
diff --git a/.trivyignore.yaml b/.trivyignore.yaml
index 9d1bff71..5b7f7fc2 100644
--- a/.trivyignore.yaml
+++ b/.trivyignore.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,15 @@
 
 secrets:
   - id: gcp-service-account
+    # Trivy reports image paths with a LEADING SLASH — the gate log shows
+    # "/app/.next/server/app/cloud/gcp/page.js". These entries were written
+    # without it, so they matched nothing and this finding kept blocking the
+    # publish even though the suppression was in place. Both forms are listed:
+    # the absolute form is what the image scan emits, the relative form is what
+    # a filesystem scan of the repo would emit.
     paths:
+      - "/app/.next/server/app/cloud/gcp/page.js"
+      - "/app/.next/static/chunks/app/cloud/gcp/*.js"
       - "app/.next/server/app/cloud/gcp/page.js"
       - "app/.next/static/chunks/app/cloud/gcp/*.js"
     statement: >-
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b1570bd7..a9d47ac0 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,29 @@
+# mkcert, built from source rather than taken from upstream's pre-built binary.
+#
+# The upstream binary (v1.4.4, published 2022-04-26) is compiled with Go 1.18,
+# and Trivy's CRITICAL gate flagged four Go stdlib vulnerabilities baked into it:
+# CVE-2023-24538, CVE-2023-24540, CVE-2024-24790 and CVE-2025-68121. That gate
+# blocked every docker-publish run, which is why Docker Hub sat at 1.0.13 while
+# the CLI reached 1.3.6.
+#
+# There is no newer mkcert release to bump to — v1.4.4 IS the latest and has been
+# since 2022. So compile the same source with a current Go toolchain: identical
+# mkcert behaviour, patched stdlib.
+#
+# --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM + GOOS/GOARCH cross-compilation keeps this stage
+# native on the builder instead of emulated per-arch under QEMU. `go build -o` is
+# used rather than `go install` because when cross-compiling `go install` writes
+# to /go/bin/${GOOS}_${GOARCH}/ rather than /go/bin, and the COPY would silently
+# miss it.
+FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM golang:1.27-alpine AS mkcert-builder
+ARG TARGETOS
+ARG TARGETARCH
+RUN apk add --no-cache git
+RUN git clone --depth 1 --branch v1.4.4 https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert /src
+WORKDIR /src
+RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} \
+    go build -trimpath -ldflags "-s -w" -o /out/mkcert .
+
 # Multi-stage production Dockerfile for nself-admin
 # Optimized for minimal size with standalone Next.js build
 # Multi-platform support: linux/amd64, linux/arm64
@@ -87,15 +113,11 @@ RUN apk add --no-cache \
               /usr/local/bin/npm \
               /usr/local/bin/npx
 
-# Install mkcert for local SSL certificate generation
-# Using pre-built binary for Alpine Linux
-RUN ARCH=$(uname -m) && \
-    if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then MKCERT_ARCH="amd64"; \
-    elif [ "$ARCH" = "aarch64" ]; then MKCERT_ARCH="arm64"; \
-    else MKCERT_ARCH="amd64"; fi && \
-    curl -fsSL "https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert/releases/download/v1.4.4/mkcert-v1.4.4-linux-${MKCERT_ARCH}" \
-    -o /usr/local/bin/mkcert && \
-    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mkcert
+# Install mkcert for local SSL certificate generation.
+# Built from source in the mkcert-builder stage at the top of this file — see
+# there for why the upstream pre-built binary cannot be used.
+COPY --from=mkcert-builder /out/mkcert /usr/local/bin/mkcert
+RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mkcert
 
 # Install nself CLI pre-built binary
 ARG NSELF_VERSION=1.3.6