diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 47a94cd..bbb44b5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ jobs:
             rpm \
             cpio \
             libarchive-tools \
+            squashfs-tools \
             desktop-file-utils \
             xdg-utils
       - run: npm ci
@@ -190,13 +191,22 @@ jobs:
           # continuous currently targets 854e19e951900cf141245b384d45735942521abe.
           APPIMAGETOOL_URL: https://github.com/AppImage/appimagetool/releases/download/continuous/appimagetool-x86_64.AppImage
           APPIMAGETOOL_SHA256: 95cbe7cce9717fce90c484e34052ee7c7f1d7635b33c12525b4776826a7d29b6
+          # appimagetool otherwise downloads this mutable runtime during packaging.
+          # type2-runtime continuous currently targets 8f39b89e2ac31e1640b3d3f7e9a5108e6ce805fa.
+          APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_URL: https://github.com/AppImage/type2-runtime/releases/download/continuous/runtime-x86_64
+          APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_SHA256: 156f4bdbde9c52d01814600013e0a273f0118dc2de98975f3c8c63427ec79074
         run: |
           curl -fsSL "$APPIMAGETOOL_URL" -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/appimagetool"
           echo "$APPIMAGETOOL_SHA256  $RUNNER_TEMP/appimagetool" | sha256sum -c -
           chmod +x "$RUNNER_TEMP/appimagetool"
+          curl -fsSL "$APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_URL" -o "$RUNNER_TEMP/appimage-runtime"
+          echo "$APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_SHA256  $RUNNER_TEMP/appimage-runtime" | sha256sum -c -
+          chmod +x "$RUNNER_TEMP/appimage-runtime"
       - name: Repack AppImage with engines (Linux only)
         if: runner.os == 'Linux'
         run: node scripts/repack-linux-appimage-engines.js --target ${{ matrix.target }} --appimagetool "$RUNNER_TEMP/appimagetool"
+        env:
+          APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_FILE: ${{ runner.temp }}/appimage-runtime
       - name: Verify macOS packaged engines and launch
         if: runner.os == 'macOS'
         run: |
diff --git a/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.js b/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.js
index 3238f9d..fe4c50e 100644
--- a/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.js
+++ b/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.js
@@ -112,3 +112,75 @@ export function normalizeAppRunPermissions(root, label = 'AppDir') {
 export function verifyAppRunPermissions(root, label = 'AppImage') {
   return checkAppRunPermissions(root, label, false);
 }
+
+function squashfsEntryMode(listing, relativePath, label, expectedType) {
+  const matchingLines = listing
+    .split(/\r?\n/)
+    .filter(line => {
+      const columns = line.trim().split(/\s+/);
+      return columns.at(-1)?.replace(/\/$/, '') === relativePath;
+    });
+
+  if (matchingLines.length !== 1) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} ${relativePath} must appear exactly once in the SquashFS permission listing.`);
+  }
+
+  const mode = /^([bcdlps-][rwxStTs-]{9})\s/.exec(matchingLines[0])?.[1];
+  if (!mode) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} ${relativePath} has an invalid SquashFS permission record.`);
+  }
+
+  if (mode[0] !== expectedType) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} ${relativePath} has the wrong SquashFS file type.`);
+  }
+
+  return mode.slice(1);
+}
+
+function assertListedOtherReadableExecutable(mode, label) {
+  if (mode[6] !== 'r' || !['x', 't'].includes(mode[8])) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} must be readable and executable by other users in the SquashFS image; found mode ${mode}.`);
+  }
+}
+
+function assertListedOtherDirectoryAccess(mode, label) {
+  if (mode[6] !== 'r' || !['x', 't'].includes(mode[8])) {
+    throw new Error(`${label} must be readable and traversable by other users in the SquashFS image; found mode ${mode}.`);
+  }
+}
+
+function assertListedOtherReadable(mode, label) {
+  if (mode[6] !== 'r') {
+    throw new Error(`${label} must be readable by other users in the SquashFS image; found mode ${mode}.`);
+  }
+}
+
+export function verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(listing, label = 'AppImage') {
+  const rootMode = squashfsEntryMode(listing, 'squashfs-root', `${label} AppDir root`, 'd');
+  const appRunMode = squashfsEntryMode(listing, 'squashfs-root/AppRun', `${label} AppRun`, '-');
+  const wrappedMode = squashfsEntryMode(
+    listing,
+    'squashfs-root/AppRun.wrapped',
+    `${label} AppRun.wrapped launcher`,
+    '-',
+  );
+  const hookDirectoryMode = squashfsEntryMode(
+    listing,
+    'squashfs-root/apprun-hooks',
+    `${label} AppRun hook directory`,
+    'd',
+  );
+  const gtkHookMode = squashfsEntryMode(
+    listing,
+    'squashfs-root/apprun-hooks/linuxdeploy-plugin-gtk.sh',
+    `${label} GTK AppRun hook`,
+    '-',
+  );
+
+  assertListedOtherDirectoryAccess(rootMode, `${label} AppDir root`);
+  assertListedOtherReadableExecutable(appRunMode, `${label} AppRun`);
+  assertListedOtherReadableExecutable(wrappedMode, `${label} AppRun.wrapped launcher`);
+  assertListedOtherDirectoryAccess(hookDirectoryMode, `${label} AppRun hook directory`);
+  assertListedOtherReadable(gtkHookMode, `${label} GTK AppRun hook`);
+  return true;
+}
diff --git a/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.node-test.js b/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.node-test.js
index 2b24654..1c9ceac 100644
--- a/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.node-test.js
+++ b/scripts/appimage-launcher-permissions.node-test.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { test } from 'node:test';
 import {
   normalizeAppRunPermissions,
   verifyAppRunPermissions,
+  verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions,
 } from './appimage-launcher-permissions.js';
 
 function createAppDir() {
@@ -108,6 +109,50 @@ test('post-pack verification rejects an inaccessible AppDir root and AppRun hook
   }
 });
 
+function squashfsListing(overrides = {}) {
+  const entries = {
+    'squashfs-root': 'drwxr-xr-x',
+    'squashfs-root/AppRun': '-rwxr-xr-x',
+    'squashfs-root/AppRun.wrapped': '-rwxr-xr-x',
+    'squashfs-root/apprun-hooks': 'drwxr-xr-x',
+    'squashfs-root/apprun-hooks/linuxdeploy-plugin-gtk.sh': '-rw-r--r--',
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+
+  return Object.entries(entries)
+    .filter(([, mode]) => mode !== null)
+    .map(([entry, mode]) => `${mode} 0/0 100 1970-01-01 00:00 ${entry}`)
+    .join('\n');
+}
+
+test('checks launcher permissions from stored SquashFS metadata', () => {
+  assert.equal(verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing()), true);
+});
+
+test('rejects inaccessible stored directories and launch files', () => {
+  assert.throws(
+    () => verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing({ 'squashfs-root': 'drwx------' })),
+    /AppDir root.*found mode rwx------/,
+  );
+  assert.throws(
+    () => verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing({ 'squashfs-root/apprun-hooks': 'drwx------' })),
+    /hook directory.*found mode rwx------/,
+  );
+  assert.throws(
+    () => verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing({ 'squashfs-root/AppRun.wrapped': '-rwxr-----' })),
+    /AppRun\.wrapped.*found mode rwxr-----/,
+  );
+});
+
+test('fails closed for missing or non-regular SquashFS launcher entries', () => {
+  const listing = squashfsListing({ 'squashfs-root/AppRun.wrapped': 'lrwxrwxrwx' });
+  assert.throws(() => verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(listing), /AppRun\.wrapped.*wrong SquashFS file type/);
+  assert.throws(
+    () => verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing({ 'squashfs-root/AppRun': null })),
+    /AppRun .*must appear exactly once/,
+  );
+});
+
 test('rejects an AppRun.wrapped symlink instead of chmodding its target', { skip: process.platform === 'win32' }, () => {
   const root = createAppDir();
   const outside = `${root}-outside`;
diff --git a/scripts/release-workflow.node-test.js b/scripts/release-workflow.node-test.js
index 9c20cf4..3c49238 100644
--- a/scripts/release-workflow.node-test.js
+++ b/scripts/release-workflow.node-test.js
@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@ test('release workflow normalizes all 6 distribution target artifacts', () => {
   assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /rename_asset '\*\.zip' "Firelink_\$\{VERSION\}_Windows-x64-portable\.zip"/);
 });
 
+test('Linux release pins and verifies appimagetool and its runtime inputs', () => {
+  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /APPIMAGETOOL_SHA256: 95cbe7cce9717fce90c484e34052ee7c7f1d7635b33c12525b4776826a7d29b6/);
+  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_SHA256: 156f4bdbde9c52d01814600013e0a273f0118dc2de98975f3c8c63427ec79074/);
+  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /echo "\$APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_SHA256  \$RUNNER_TEMP\/appimage-runtime" \| sha256sum -c -/);
+  assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /APPIMAGETOOL_RUNTIME_FILE: \$\{\{ runner\.temp \}\}\/appimage-runtime/);
+});
+
 test('Windows release job packages portable ZIP with portable.flag and data cleanup', () => {
   assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /Set-Content -Path \(Join-Path \$portableRoot 'portable\.flag'\) -Value 'portable'/);
   assert.match(releaseWorkflow, /node scripts\/smoke-packaged-app\.js --executable \$portableExe --assert-no-visible-child-windows --assert-portable-data/);
diff --git a/scripts/repack-linux-appimage-engines.js b/scripts/repack-linux-appimage-engines.js
index f1981a1..a59e916 100755
--- a/scripts/repack-linux-appimage-engines.js
+++ b/scripts/repack-linux-appimage-engines.js
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@ import path from 'node:path';
 import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
 import { collectRegularFiles, sha256 } from './engine-payload-integrity.js';
-import { normalizeAppRunPermissions, verifyAppRunPermissions } from './appimage-launcher-permissions.js';
+import {
+  normalizeAppRunPermissions,
+  verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions,
+} from './appimage-launcher-permissions.js';
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const repoRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@ function run(command, args, options = {}) {
     env: { ...process.env, ...options.env },
     stdio: options.stdio ?? 'inherit',
     encoding: options.stdio === 'pipe' ? 'utf8' : undefined,
+    maxBuffer: options.maxBuffer ?? 16 * 1024 * 1024,
   });
 
   if (result.error) {
@@ -100,6 +104,8 @@ function run(command, args, options = {}) {
     }
     fail(`${command} exited with status ${result.status}`);
   }
+
+  return options.stdio === 'pipe' ? result.stdout : undefined;
 }
 
 function main() {
@@ -147,6 +153,12 @@ function main() {
     },
   });
 
+  // The AppImage runtime's --appimage-extract creates directories as 0700 and
+  // does not restore their SquashFS modes. Inspect the image metadata directly
+  // so this check reflects the mounted AppImage rather than extraction policy.
+  const squashfsListing = run('unsquashfs', ['-lln', appImage], { stdio: 'pipe' });
+  verifySquashfsAppRunPermissions(squashfsListing, 'Repacked AppImage');
+
   const extractRoot = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'firelink-appimage-'));
   try {
     fs.chmodSync(appImage, 0o755);
@@ -157,8 +169,6 @@ function main() {
     });
 
     const squashfsRoot = path.join(extractRoot, 'squashfs-root');
-    verifyAppRunPermissions(squashfsRoot, 'Repacked AppImage');
-
     const extractedPayload = path.join(squashfsRoot, 'usr', 'lib', 'Firelink', 'engine-dist', target);
     mustBeDirectory(extractedPayload, 'Extracted AppImage engine payload');
     validatePayloadManifest(extractedPayload, target, 'Extracted AppImage engine');