diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_solidus.yml b/.github/workflows/test_solidus.yml
index a1818a5b63e..8471354814d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_solidus.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_solidus.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@ on:
 jobs:
   RSpec:
     name: Rails ${{ matrix.rails }}, Ruby ${{ matrix.ruby }}, ${{ matrix.database }}, ${{ matrix.storage }}
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    # NOTE: ubuntu-24.04 is required for libvips 8.13+. ActiveStorage 8.1 refuses to
+    # load with older libvips, because it cannot disable the unfuzzed operations that
+    # are unsafe on untrusted content. ubuntu-22.04 only ships libvips 8.12.1.
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -83,11 +86,21 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ruby-version: ${{ matrix.ruby }}
           bundler-cache: true
-      - uses: awalsh128/cache-apt-pkgs-action@v1
+      # NOTE: Install libvips with plain apt-get rather than a caching action. A
+      # cached install can report a cache hit while restoring zero packages, which
+      # leaves libvips missing and surfaces much later as an opaque
+      # "undefined method 'new' for nil" from ImageProcessing::Vips inside the
+      # specs. `vips --version` makes a bad install fail here instead.
+      #
+      # ruby-vips binds libvips.so through FFI at runtime, so the docs and the GUI
+      # tools apt recommends are dead weight; libvips-tools is requested explicitly
+      # because it provides the `vips` binary used by the check below.
+      - name: Install libvips
         if: ${{ matrix.storage == 'activestorage' }}
-        name: Install libvips
-        with:
-          packages: libvips-dev
+        run: |
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -yq --no-install-recommends libvips-dev libvips-tools
+          vips --version
       - name: Setup coverage
         id: setup-coverage
         if: ${{ inputs.coverage && matrix.rails == '8.0' && matrix.ruby == '3.4' }}
diff --git a/admin/spec/spec_helper.rb b/admin/spec/spec_helper.rb
index d69fa4e57b6..0bd65d5102e 100644
--- a/admin/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/admin/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 Capybara.disable_animation = true
 Capybara.default_max_wait_time = ENV["DEFAULT_MAX_WAIT_TIME"].to_f if ENV["DEFAULT_MAX_WAIT_TIME"].present?
 Capybara.enable_aria_label = true
+Capybara.server = :puma, {Silent: true} # A workaround for https://github.com/rspec/rspec-rails/issues/1897
 
 # DATABASE CLEANER
 require "database_cleaner"
diff --git a/core/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext.rb b/core/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext.rb
index a567e23c819..0f3849f6796 100644
--- a/core/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext.rb
+++ b/core/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,15 @@ module Spree
   module TestingSupport
     module CapybaraExt
       def click_icon(type)
-        find(".fa-#{type}").click
+        el = find(".fa-#{type}", visible: :all)
+        begin
+          el.click
+        rescue Selenium::WebDriver::Error::ElementClickInterceptedError
+          # When a floating element (eg. tooltips/overlays) intercepts the click,
+          # scroll the target into view and dispatch a click via JS to keep tests stable.
+          page.execute_script('arguments[0].scrollIntoView({block: "center"});', el.native)
+          page.execute_script("arguments[0].click();", el.native)
+        end
       end
 
       def eventually_fill_in(field, options = {})
diff --git a/core/lib/spree/testing_support/dummy_app.rb b/core/lib/spree/testing_support/dummy_app.rb
index e2be2ae170f..2489e2db051 100644
--- a/core/lib/spree/testing_support/dummy_app.rb
+++ b/core/lib/spree/testing_support/dummy_app.rb
@@ -3,6 +3,18 @@
 ENV["RAILS_ENV"] = "test"
 ENV["DISABLE_DATABASE_ENVIRONMENT_CHECK"] = "1"
 
+# Speed up the sqlite runs: `fast_sqlite` patches SQLite3::Database#initialize to
+# set `PRAGMA synchronous = OFF` and `journal_mode = MEMORY`, trading durability we
+# don't need for a database the suite recreates anyway.
+#
+# NOTE: The gem is declared `require: false`, and only when DB is sqlite, so it is
+# genuinely absent for the mysql and postgres runs.
+begin
+  require "fast_sqlite"
+rescue LoadError
+  # Not running against sqlite, nothing to speed up.
+end
+
 require "rails"
 require "active_record/railtie"
 require "action_controller/railtie"
@@ -106,7 +118,10 @@ class Application < ::Rails::Application
 
     # Set the preview path within the dummy app:
     if ActionMailer::Base.respond_to? :preview_paths # Rails 7.1+
-      config.action_mailer.preview_paths << File.expand_path("dummy_app/mailer_previews", __dir__)
+      # Some Rails versions return a frozen array here; assign a new array
+      # to avoid FrozenError when augmenting the paths.
+      existing = Array(config.action_mailer.preview_paths)
+      config.action_mailer.preview_paths = existing + [File.expand_path("dummy_app/mailer_previews", __dir__)]
     else
       config.action_mailer.preview_path = File.expand_path("dummy_app/mailer_previews", __dir__)
     end
diff --git a/core/spec/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext_spec.rb b/core/spec/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d0390a69bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/spec/lib/spree/testing_support/capybara_ext_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require "rails_helper"
+require "selenium-webdriver"
+require "spree/testing_support/capybara_ext"
+
+RSpec.describe Spree::TestingSupport::CapybaraExt do
+  subject(:page_object) do
+    Class.new do
+      include Spree::TestingSupport::CapybaraExt
+
+      attr_reader :page
+
+      def initialize(element:, page:)
+        @element = element
+        @page = page
+      end
+
+      def find(*) = @element
+    end.new(element: element, page: page)
+  end
+
+  let(:element) { instance_double(Capybara::Node::Element, native: :native_element) }
+  let(:page) { instance_double(Capybara::Session, execute_script: nil) }
+
+  describe "#click_icon" do
+    it "clicks the icon it finds" do
+      allow(element).to receive(:click)
+
+      page_object.click_icon(:edit)
+
+      expect(element).to have_received(:click)
+    end
+
+    context "when a floating element intercepts the click" do
+      before do
+        allow(element).to receive(:click)
+          .and_raise(Selenium::WebDriver::Error::ElementClickInterceptedError)
+      end
+
+      it "scrolls the element into view and clicks it via JavaScript" do
+        page_object.click_icon(:edit)
+
+        expect(page).to have_received(:execute_script)
+          .with('arguments[0].scrollIntoView({block: "center"});', :native_element).ordered
+        expect(page).to have_received(:execute_script)
+          .with("arguments[0].click();", :native_element).ordered
+      end
+    end
+
+    context "when finding the icon is itself intercepted" do
+      subject(:page_object) do
+        Class.new do
+          include Spree::TestingSupport::CapybaraExt
+
+          attr_reader :page
+
+          def initialize(page:)
+            @page = page
+          end
+
+          def find(*)
+            raise Selenium::WebDriver::Error::ElementClickInterceptedError
+          end
+        end.new(page: page)
+      end
+
+      # The fallback needs an element to scroll to, so a failure to find one has to
+      # surface as itself rather than as a NoMethodError on nil.
+      it "lets the error through instead of retrying without an element" do
+        expect { page_object.click_icon(:edit) }
+          .to raise_error(Selenium::WebDriver::Error::ElementClickInterceptedError)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 7247adc0933..cf2b44666d6 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-version: '3.7'
+version: "3.7"
 
 services:
   mysql:
@@ -18,12 +18,12 @@ services:
       - postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data:cached
 
   app:
-    shm_size: '512mb'
+    shm_size: "512mb"
     build:
       context: .dockerdev
       dockerfile: Dockerfile
       args:
-        RUBY_VERSION: "3.1"
+        RUBY_VERSION: "3.4.6"
         PG_VERSION: 13
         NODE_VERSION: 20
         MYSQL_VERSION: "8.0"