diff --git a/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_apparmor.sh b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_apparmor.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8a326a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_apparmor.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# AppArmor profile shim for the rootless Docker + pasta combo.
+#
+# Debian's stock `passt` profile (shipped by the `passt` package, used for the
+# pasta network driver) is enforce-mode and denies the accesses pasta needs to
+# wire up rootlesskit's net namespace:
+#
+#   - ptrace(read) into the rootlesskit child to enter its user namespace
+#   - read /run/user/<uid>/dockerd-rootless/netns
+#   - read /proc/<pid>/net/{tcp,tcp6,udp,udp6} for implicit port-forwarding
+#
+# Without these the daemon fails to start with
+#   error: failed to setup network: pasta failed with exit code 1:
+#   Couldn't open user namespace /proc/<pid>/ns/user: Permission denied
+#
+# We extend the profile via the standard local-override pattern:
+#   /etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.bin.passt          — our rules
+#   /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt                — include if exists <local/...>
+#
+# Idempotent — safe to call on every rootless install. The local file survives
+# `apt upgrade passt` (it's outside the package's managed paths). The one-line
+# include statement could theoretically get reverted by an apt upgrade; we
+# re-add it on every run as a belt-and-braces guard.
+
+installRootlessApparmorForPasta()
+{
+    # Bail silently when apparmor isn't on this system at all — Fedora/RHEL,
+    # ungrouped Debian minimals, etc. Nothing to patch.
+    if [[ ! -d /etc/apparmor.d ]]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if [[ ! -f /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt ]]; then
+        isNotice "AppArmor present but no /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt — passt may be too old or not installed under apparmor."
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    isHeader "AppArmor: enabling pasta access for rootless Docker"
+
+    # 1. Add `include if exists <local/usr.bin.passt>` to the main profile if
+    # it isn't already there. The line lives just before the closing `}` of
+    # the profile block.
+    if ! sudo grep -q "include if exists <local/usr.bin.passt>" /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt; then
+        # Insert right before the final `}` of the file. We don't try to be
+        # surgical about which `}` — passt's profile has exactly one top-level
+        # close, and any nested `{` `}` (e.g. inside abstractions) are
+        # behind `include` lines, not literal in this file.
+        sudo awk '
+            /^}/ && !done { print "  include if exists <local/usr.bin.passt>"; done=1 }
+            { print }
+        ' /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt | sudo tee /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt.new > /dev/null
+        sudo mv /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt.new /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt
+        checkSuccess "Added include-local line to /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt"
+    else
+        isSuccessful "Main passt profile already sources /etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.bin.passt"
+    fi
+
+    # 2. Write (or overwrite — same content every time) the local rules file.
+    sudo mkdir -p /etc/apparmor.d/local
+    sudo tee /etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.bin.passt > /dev/null <<'EOF'
+# Managed by LibrePortal (installRootlessApparmorForPasta). Edits here are
+# fine but will be overwritten on the next rootless reinstall — put your
+# customisations in a sibling file (e.g. local/usr.bin.passt.local) and
+# include them yourself if you need to extend this further.
+#
+# These rules permit rootless Docker's pasta network driver to:
+#   - ptrace_read the rootlesskit child to enter its user namespace
+#   - read the netns file rootlesskit writes
+#   - read per-process socket tables for implicit port-forwarding
+
+  ptrace (read) peer=unconfined,
+  /run/user/[0-9]*/dockerd-rootless/netns r,
+  /proc/*/net/tcp r,
+  /proc/*/net/tcp6 r,
+  /proc/*/net/udp r,
+  /proc/*/net/udp6 r,
+EOF
+    checkSuccess "Wrote /etc/apparmor.d/local/usr.bin.passt"
+
+    # 3. Reload the profile. apparmor_parser -r updates an in-kernel profile
+    # in place, so already-running pasta processes see the new rules on the
+    # next syscall — no daemon restart strictly needed, but the caller
+    # restarts docker anyway when override.conf changes.
+    if sudo apparmor_parser -r /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.passt 2>/dev/null; then
+        isSuccessful "Reloaded passt AppArmor profile"
+    else
+        isError "apparmor_parser -r failed — passt may still deny pasta. Check /var/log/syslog or journalctl for the error."
+        return 1
+    fi
+}
diff --git a/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
index a3b340f..b0337ce 100755
--- a/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
@@ -157,6 +157,14 @@ EOL"
         local result=$(sudo chown $CFG_DOCKER_INSTALL_USER:$CFG_DOCKER_INSTALL_USER $override_conf_file)
         checkSuccess "Updating ownership for override.conf"
 
+        # Pasta needs explicit AppArmor permissions that the Debian-shipped
+        # passt profile doesn't include by default (ptrace_read on the
+        # rootlesskit child + a couple of /proc + /run paths). Skip silently
+        # when slirp4netns is selected — that path doesn't go through passt.
+        if [[ "$rootless_net" == "pasta" ]]; then
+            installRootlessApparmorForPasta
+        fi
+
         # NOTE: we deliberately do NOT set "userland-proxy": false here. Disabling
         # it makes rootless dockerd require br_netfilter
         # (/proc/sys/net/bridge/bridge-nf-call-iptables), which isn't present in
diff --git a/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_docker.sh b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_docker.sh
index 38bf19c..eac14d2 100755
--- a/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_docker.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ docker_scripts=(
     "docker/install/rooted/rooted_docker_check.sh"
     "docker/install/rooted/rooted_docker_compose.sh"
     "docker/install/rooted/rooted_docker.sh"
+    "docker/install/rootless/rootless_apparmor.sh"
     "docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh"
     "docker/install/rootless/rootless_start_setup.sh"
     "docker/install/rootless/rootless_uninstall.sh"