diff --git a/e2e-tests/.ci/server.prepare.sh b/e2e-tests/.ci/server.prepare.sh
index 4ce84778118..a985ec4dd1a 100755
--- a/e2e-tests/.ci/server.prepare.sh
+++ b/e2e-tests/.ci/server.prepare.sh
@@ -23,11 +23,14 @@ fi
 
 if [ "$TEST" = "cypress" ]; then
   mme2e_log "Prepare Cypress: install dependencies"
-  ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u 0 -- cypress bash -c "id $MME2E_UID || useradd -u $MME2E_UID -m nodeci" # Works around the node image's assumption that the app files are owned by user 1000
+  # Create user in Cypress container and work around the node image's assumption that the app files are owned by user 1000
+  mme2e_log "Creating user for Cypress container"
+  ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u 0 -- cypress bash -c "id $MME2E_UID || useradd -u $MME2E_UID -m nodeci"
   ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress npm i
   ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress cypress install
   mme2e_log "Prepare Cypress: populating fixtures"
   ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress tee tests/fixtures/keycloak.crt >/dev/null <../../server/build/docker/keycloak/keycloak.crt
+  # Download plugins using wget in the Cypress container
   for PLUGIN_URL in \
     "https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-plugin-gitlab/releases/download/v1.3.0/com.github.manland.mattermost-plugin-gitlab-1.3.0.tar.gz" \
     "https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-plugin-demo/releases/download/v0.9.0/com.mattermost.demo-plugin-0.9.0.tar.gz" \
@@ -35,12 +38,16 @@ if [ "$TEST" = "cypress" ]; then
   do
     PLUGIN_NAME="${PLUGIN_URL##*/}"
     PLUGIN_PATH="tests/fixtures/$PLUGIN_NAME"
+
+    # Check if file exists
     if ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress test -f "$PLUGIN_PATH"; then
       mme2e_log "Skipping installation of plugin $PLUGIN_NAME: file exists"
       continue
     fi
+
+    # Use wget in the Cypress container instead of curl in server (for distroless compatibility)
     mme2e_log "Downloading $PLUGIN_NAME to fixtures directory"
-    ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -- server curl -L --silent "${PLUGIN_URL}" | ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress tee "$PLUGIN_PATH" >/dev/null
+    ${MME2E_DC_SERVER} exec -T -u "$MME2E_UID" -- cypress wget -q -O "/cypress/$PLUGIN_PATH" "$PLUGIN_URL"
   done
 fi
 
diff --git a/server/build/Dockerfile b/server/build/Dockerfile
index 088dbc3b828..91b8ca70fc6 100644
--- a/server/build/Dockerfile
+++ b/server/build/Dockerfile
@@ -1,11 +1,8 @@
-FROM ubuntu:noble-20240605@sha256:2e863c44b718727c860746568e1d54afd13b2fa71b160f5cd9058fc436217b30
-
+# First stage - Ubuntu with document processing dependencies and curl for downloading
+FROM ubuntu:noble-20250415.1@sha256:dc17125eaac86538c57da886e494a34489122fb6a3ebb6411153d742594c2ddc AS builder
 # Setting bash as our shell, and enabling pipefail option
 SHELL ["/bin/bash", "-o", "pipefail", "-c"]
 
-# Some ENV variables
-ENV PATH="/mattermost/bin:${PATH}"
-
 # Build Arguments
 ARG PUID=2000
 ARG PGID=2000
@@ -13,7 +10,7 @@ ARG PGID=2000
 # i.e. https://releases.mattermost.com/9.7.1/mattermost-9.7.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz
 ARG MM_PACKAGE="https://latest.mattermost.com/mattermost-enterprise-linux"
 
-# # Install needed packages and indirect dependencies
+# Install needed packages and indirect dependencies
 RUN apt-get update \
   && DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y \
   ca-certificates \
@@ -34,18 +31,48 @@ RUN mkdir -p /mattermost/data /mattermost/plugins /mattermost/client/plugins \
   && curl -L $MM_PACKAGE | tar -xvz \
   && chown -R mattermost:mattermost /mattermost /mattermost/data /mattermost/plugins /mattermost/client/plugins
 
+# Final stage using distroless for minimal attack surface
+FROM gcr.io/distroless/base-debian12
+
+# Some ENV variables
+ENV PATH="/mattermost/bin:${PATH}"
+ENV MM_SERVICESETTINGS_ENABLELOCALMODE="true"
+
+# Copy over metadata files needed by runtime
+COPY --from=builder /etc/mime.types /etc
+
+# Copy document processing utilities and necessary support files
+COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/pdftotext /usr/bin/pdftotext
+COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/wvText /usr/bin/wvText
+COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/wvWare /usr/bin/wvWare
+COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/unrtf /usr/bin/unrtf
+COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/tidy /usr/bin/tidy
+COPY --from=builder /usr/share/wv /usr/share/wv
+
+# Copy necessary libraries for document processing utilities
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libpoppler.so* /usr/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libfreetype.so* /usr/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libpng.so* /usr/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libwv.so* /usr/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libtidy.so* /usr/lib/
+COPY --from=builder /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so* /usr/lib/
+
+# Copy mattermost from builder stage 
+COPY --from=builder --chown=2000:2000 /mattermost /mattermost
+
+# Copy passwd including mattermost user
+COPY  passwd /etc/passwd
+
 # We should refrain from running as privileged user
 USER mattermost
 
-# Healthcheck to make sure container is ready
+# Healthcheck to make sure container is ready - using mmctl instead of curl for distroless compatibility
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s \
-  CMD curl -f http://localhost:8065/api/v4/system/ping || exit 1
+  CMD ["/mattermost/bin/mmctl", "system", "status", "--local"]
 
 # Configure entrypoint and command with proper permissions
-COPY --chown=mattermost:mattermost --chmod=765 entrypoint.sh /
-ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]
 WORKDIR /mattermost
-CMD ["mattermost"]
+CMD ["/mattermost/bin/mattermost"]
 
 EXPOSE 8065 8067 8074 8075
 
diff --git a/server/build/passwd b/server/build/passwd
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4696ba5f8ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/build/passwd
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+root:x:0:0:root:/root:/sbin/nologin
+nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/sbin/nologin
+nonroot:x:65532:65532:nonroot:/home/nonroot:/sbin/nologin
+mattermost:x:2000:2000:nonroot:/home/nonroot:/sbin/nologin