diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/rails.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab/ci/rails.gitlab-ci.yml
index 494045afdf1462cd416eddf3e5fe54081c2efa32..da5cc989b8d1bf048e23b62205ffec0a5736d5c1 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/rails.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/rails.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -212,6 +212,8 @@ rspec integration pg16 praefect:
     - .rails:rules:praefect-with-db
 
 rspec system pg16:
+  tags:
+    - e2e
   extends:
     - .rspec-base-pg16
     - .rspec-system-parallel
@@ -956,6 +958,8 @@ rspec-ee integration pg16 single-db-sec-connection:
     - .rails:rules:single-db-sec-connection-ee
 
 rspec-ee system pg16:
+  tags:
+    - e2e
   extends:
     - .rspec-ee-base-pg16
     - .rspec-ee-system-parallel
@@ -1338,6 +1342,8 @@ rspec fail-fast:
     MATCHING_TESTS_PATH: "${GLCI_PREDICTIVE_RSPEC_MATCHING_TESTS_FOSS_PATH}"
 
 rspec-ee fail-fast:
+  tags:
+    - e2e
   extends:
     - .rspec-ee-base-pg16
     - .rspec-fail-fast  # extends from .rspec-fail-fast last to override script from .rspec-ee-base-pg16
diff --git a/.gitlab/ci/version.yml b/.gitlab/ci/version.yml
index 3d7ac30ab2d579de2ff48a31e7c4c6daa57e80ba..aab3b3de2c6b5616cc4871066d3f770a542f490a 100644
--- a/.gitlab/ci/version.yml
+++ b/.gitlab/ci/version.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 variables:
   BUILD_OS: "debian"
-  CHROME_VERSION: "123"
+  CHROME_VERSION: "138"
   DOCKER_VERSION: "27.4.1"
   EXIFTOOL_VERSION: "12.60"
   GCLOUD_VERSION: "413"
diff --git a/qa/Dockerfile b/qa/Dockerfile
index a10db24c2f0566b468584e9b6a7a173bb120e86c..4a66992bddabfa5a1654885a6a6a71b75b5538bc 100644
--- a/qa/Dockerfile
+++ b/qa/Dockerfile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ARG BUILD_OS=debian
-ARG CHROME_VERSION=123
+ARG CHROME_VERSION=138
 ARG DOCKER_VERSION=24.0.5
 ARG GCLOUD_VERSION=413
 ARG GIT_VERSION=2.51
diff --git a/spec/features/snippets/user_creates_snippet_spec.rb b/spec/features/snippets/user_creates_snippet_spec.rb
index e49b4707e2ed865c2dddc8682120118d19d8813e..4245839cfd93b4f6ef5d9b6e280fdb78fac0ee30 100644
--- a/spec/features/snippets/user_creates_snippet_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/snippets/user_creates_snippet_spec.rb
@@ -146,9 +146,7 @@ def fill_form
       # not anymore as requests when they come straight from memory cache.
       # accept_confirm is needed because of https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/262102
       reqs = inspect_requests do
-        visit("#{link}?ran=#{SecureRandom.base64(20)}") do
-          page.driver.browser.switch_to.alert.accept
-        end
+        visit("#{link}?ran=#{SecureRandom.base64(20)}")
       end
       expect(reqs.first.status_code).to eq(200)
     end
diff --git a/spec/features/work_items/detail/work_item_detail_spec.rb b/spec/features/work_items/detail/work_item_detail_spec.rb
index 3a86cba20029ce8e61dde9627e0bf0b7c94907ef..1d85838112d19b6b291e0d394c5466f916ba39f7 100644
--- a/spec/features/work_items/detail/work_item_detail_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/work_items/detail/work_item_detail_spec.rb
@@ -8,17 +8,17 @@
   let_it_be_with_refind(:user) { create(:user) }
   let_it_be_with_refind(:user2) { create(:user, name: 'John') }
 
-  let_it_be(:group) { create(:group) }
-  let_it_be(:project) { create(:project, :public, :repository, group: group) }
-  let_it_be(:label) { create(:label, project: project, title: "testing-label") }
-  let_it_be(:label2) { create(:label, project: project, title: "another-label") }
-  let_it_be(:work_item) { create(:work_item, project: project, labels: [label]) }
-  let_it_be(:task) { create(:work_item, :task, project: project) }
-  let_it_be(:emoji_upvote) { create(:award_emoji, :upvote, awardable: work_item, user: user2) }
-  let_it_be(:milestone) { create(:milestone, project: project) }
-  let_it_be(:milestones) { create_list(:milestone, 10, project: project) }
-  let_it_be(:note) { create(:note, noteable: work_item, project: work_item.project) }
-  let_it_be(:contact) { create(:contact, group: group) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:group) { create(:group) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:project) { create(:project, :public, :repository, group: group) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:label) { create(:label, project: project, title: "testing-label") }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:label2) { create(:label, project: project, title: "another-label") }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:work_item) { create(:work_item, project: project, labels: [label]) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:task) { create(:work_item, :task, project: project) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:emoji_upvote) { create(:award_emoji, :upvote, awardable: work_item, user: user2) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:milestone) { create(:milestone, project: project) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:milestones) { create_list(:milestone, 10, project: project) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:note) { create(:note, noteable: work_item, project: work_item.project) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:contact) { create(:contact, group: group) }
   let(:contact_name) { "#{contact.first_name} #{contact.last_name}" }
   let(:list_path) { project_issues_path(project) }
   let(:work_items_path) { project_work_item_path(project, work_item.iid) }
@@ -96,10 +96,10 @@
   end
 
   context 'for signed in admin' do
-    let_it_be(:admin) { create(:admin) }
+    let_it_be_with_refind(:admin) { create(:admin) }
 
     context 'with akismet integration' do
-      let_it_be(:user_agent_detail) { create(:user_agent_detail, subject: work_item) }
+      let_it_be_with_refind(:user_agent_detail) { create(:user_agent_detail, subject: work_item) }
 
       before_all do
         project.add_maintainer(admin)
@@ -134,8 +134,8 @@
     end
 
     context 'for work item authored by guest user' do
-      let_it_be(:key_result) { create(:work_item, :key_result, author: user, project: project) }
-      let_it_be(:note) { create(:note, noteable: key_result, project: key_result.project) }
+      let_it_be_with_refind(:key_result) { create(:work_item, :key_result, author: user, project: project) }
+      let_it_be_with_refind(:note) { create(:note, noteable: key_result, project: key_result.project) }
 
       before do
         sign_in(user)
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@
   end
 
   context 'for development widget' do
-    let_it_be(:merge_request) do
+    let_it_be_with_refind(:merge_request) do
       create(
         :merge_request,
         source_project: project,
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 6066003137947b27c11a36ab12024dfdbd497540..83738fb426ba317ab374cedfff54587ee8c4349e 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@
 
 require_relative '../tooling/quality/test_level'
 
+require Rails.root.join("spec/support/patches/selenium_chrome_patch.rb")
+
 quality_level = Quality::TestLevel.new
 
 RSpec.configure do |config|
diff --git a/spec/support/capybara.rb b/spec/support/capybara.rb
index 7d58a81ede157753a7213b495b07f681a309e2eb..1fe2e1e9e043390ea32ba48a3b87ef69605f5ce1 100644
--- a/spec/support/capybara.rb
+++ b/spec/support/capybara.rb
@@ -60,9 +60,6 @@
     options.add_argument("disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows")
   end
 
-  # Disable /dev/shm use in CI. See https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/4252
-  options.add_argument("disable-dev-shm-usage") if ENV['CI'] || ENV['CI_SERVER']
-
   # Set chrome default download path
   if ENV['DEFAULT_CHROME_DOWNLOAD_PATH']
     options.add_preference("download.default_directory", ENV['DEFAULT_CHROME_DOWNLOAD_PATH'])
@@ -84,6 +81,9 @@
   options.add_argument("--proxy-server=http://127.0.0.1:#{@blackhole_tcp_server.addr[1]}")
   options.add_argument("--proxy-bypass-list=#{bypass_list}")
 
+  options.add_argument('--disable-gpu')
+  options.add_argument('--no-sandbox')
+
   Capybara::Selenium::Driver.new(
     app,
     browser: :chrome,
diff --git a/spec/support/patches/selenium_chrome_patch.rb b/spec/support/patches/selenium_chrome_patch.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c3ab2bcb11fe8c9f1e84e144d18a4f9e87f92ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/patches/selenium_chrome_patch.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# NOTE: Taken from https://github.com/alphagov/forms-admin/blob/5ea98767d765a396ed06cf2cba8f9afb1b10fc0e/spec/support/selenium_error_patch.rb
+#       which in turn was taken from the following issue:
+#       https://github.com/teamcapybara/capybara/issues/2800#issuecomment-3049956982
+
+# Monkey patch for a specific intermittent Selenium error.
+#
+# Intermittently, Selenium/Chromedriver raises `Selenium::WebDriver::Error::UnknownError`
+# with the message "Node with given id does not belong to the document".
+
+# Capybara's automatic waiting/retrying mechanism doesn't catch it,
+# leading to failure.
+#
+# We intercept the initialization of `UnknownError`. If the message matches this specific
+# case, we raise a `StaleElementReferenceError` instead. This uses Capybara's
+# retry logic which makes doesn't fail the test
+#
+# This can be removed once the following issue is resolved:
+# https://github.com/teamcapybara/capybara/issues/2800
+#
+# taken from the following issue:
+# https://github.com/teamcapybara/capybara/issues/2800#issuecomment-3049956982
+
+module Selenium
+  module WebDriver
+    module Error
+      class UnknownError
+        alias_method :old_initialize, :initialize
+
+        # @param [String] msg
+        # @return [UnknownError]
+        def initialize(msg = '')
+          raise StaleElementReferenceError, msg if msg.include?("Node with given id does not belong to the document")
+
+          old_initialize(msg)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/support/shared_examples/features/work_items/work_items_shared_examples.rb b/spec/support/shared_examples/features/work_items/work_items_shared_examples.rb
index 7ef6dd74d2ac9ff862b7c93636e2ac1083999bb2..9399c5f0f24a4a9201d34786211751dd1c6bfacd 100644
--- a/spec/support/shared_examples/features/work_items/work_items_shared_examples.rb
+++ b/spec/support/shared_examples/features/work_items/work_items_shared_examples.rb
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def set_comment
   end
 
   context 'for work item note actions signed in user with developer role' do
-    let_it_be(:owner) { create(:user) }
+    let_it_be_with_refind(:owner) { create(:user) }
 
     before do
       project.add_owner(owner)
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ def click_reply_and_enter_slash
   end
 
   context 'on conflict' do
-    let_it_be(:other_user) { create(:user) }
+    let_it_be_with_refind(:other_user) { create(:user) }
     let(:expected_warning) { 'Someone edited the description at the same time you did.' }
 
     before do
@@ -624,8 +624,8 @@ def find_and_click_clear(selector, button_name = 'Clear')
 RSpec.shared_examples 'work items iteration' do
   include Features::IterationHelpers
   let(:work_item_iteration_selector) { '[data-testid="work-item-iteration"]' }
-  let_it_be(:iteration_cadence) { create(:iterations_cadence, group: group, active: true) }
-  let_it_be(:iteration) do
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:iteration_cadence) { create(:iterations_cadence, group: group, active: true) }
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:iteration) do
     create(
       :iteration,
       iterations_cadence: iteration_cadence,
@@ -635,7 +635,7 @@ def find_and_click_clear(selector, button_name = 'Clear')
     )
   end
 
-  let_it_be(:iteration2) do
+  let_it_be_with_refind(:iteration2) do
     create(
       :iteration,
       iterations_cadence: iteration_cadence,