diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 893bc0d..f7b176e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
         build_runs_on: ["ubuntu-24.04"]
         arch: ["x86_64"]
         kernel_compiler: ["gcc", "llvm"]
-        gcc_version: [14]
+        gcc_version: [15]
         llvm_version: [20]
         kernel: ["LATEST"]
         build_release: [false]
diff --git a/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST b/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST
index 20a0902..d24c405 100644
--- a/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST
+++ b/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST
@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@ connect_force_port # unreliably fails
 sockmap_ktls/sockmap_ktls disconnect_after_delete* # https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250415163332.1836826-1-ihor.solodrai@linux.dev/
 verif_scale_pyperf600 # llvm 20 generates code that fails verification
 arena_spin_lock # llvm 20 generates code that fails verification
+perf_branches/perf_branches_no_hw  # this fails on github-hosted runners
diff --git a/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST.test_progs-no_alu32 b/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST.test_progs-no_alu32
deleted file mode 100644
index 6213899..0000000
--- a/ci/vmtest/configs/DENYLIST.test_progs-no_alu32
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-perf_branches/perf_branches_no_hw  # this fails on github-hosted runners
diff --git a/setup-build-env/action.sh b/setup-build-env/action.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6a98f67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup-build-env/action.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -x -euo pipefail
+
+export GITHUB_ACTION_PATH=${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH:-$(pwd)}
+
+export PAHOLE_BRANCH=${PAHOLE_BRANCH:-master}
+export PAHOLE_ORIGIN=${PAHOLE_ORIGIN:-https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/devel/pahole/pahole.git}
+export GCC_VERSION=${GCC_VERSION:-15}
+export LLVM_VERSION=${LLVM_VERSION:-20}
+export TARGET_ARCH=${TARGET_ARCH:-$(uname -m)}
+
+# gcc >= 15 is not available in Ubuntu 24
+# use this variable to set up alternative apt repositories
+export UBUNTU_CODENAME_OVERRIDE=plucky # Ubuntu 25.04 with GCC 15.0.1
+
+${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_packages.sh
+${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_clang.sh
+${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/build_pahole.sh
+
+${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh $TARGET_ARCH
diff --git a/setup-build-env/action.yml b/setup-build-env/action.yml
index 95a777e..1eb4068 100644
--- a/setup-build-env/action.yml
+++ b/setup-build-env/action.yml
@@ -26,25 +26,10 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       env:
         GCC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.gcc-version }}
-      run: |
-        ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_packages.sh
-    - name: Install clang
-      shell: bash
-      env:
         LLVM_VERSION: ${{ inputs.llvm-version }}
-      run: |
-        ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_clang.sh
-    - name: Install pahole
-      shell: bash
-      env:
         PAHOLE_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.pahole }}
         PAHOLE_ORIGIN: ${{ inputs.pahole-origin }}
+        TARGET_ARCH: ${{ inputs.arch }}
       run: |
-        ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/build_pahole.sh
+        ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/action.sh
         echo "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}:/usr/local/lib" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-    - name: Install cross compilation toolchain
-      shell: bash
-      env:
-        GCC_VERSION: ${{ inputs.gcc-version }}
-      run: |
-         ${GITHUB_ACTION_PATH}/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh ${{ inputs.arch }}
diff --git a/setup-build-env/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh b/setup-build-env/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh
index 1394f72..17b2e07 100755
--- a/setup-build-env/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh
+++ b/setup-build-env/install_cross_compilation_toolchain.sh
@@ -19,24 +19,19 @@ source /etc/os-release
 
 DEB_ARCH="$(platform_to_deb_arch "${TARGET_ARCH}")"
 DEB_HOST_ARCH="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"
-UBUNTU_CODENAME=${VERSION_CODENAME:-noble}
 GCC_VERSION=${GCC_VERSION:-14}
+UBUNTU_CODENAME=${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-noble}
 
-cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu.sources
-Types:        deb
-URIs:         http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
-Suites:       ${UBUNTU_CODENAME} ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-updates ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-backports
-Components:   main restricted universe multiverse
-Architectures:   ${DEB_HOST_ARCH}
-Signed-By:    /usr/share/keyrings/ubuntu-archive-keyring.gpg
+if [ "${GCC_VERSION}" -ge 15 ]; then
+    UBUNTU_CODENAME=${UBUNTU_CODENAME_OVERRIDE}
+fi
 
-Types:        deb
-URIs:         http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
-Suites:       ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-security
-Components:   main restricted universe multiverse
-Architectures:   ${DEB_HOST_ARCH}
-Signed-By:    /usr/share/keyrings/ubuntu-archive-keyring.gpg
-EOF
+# Disable other apt sources for foreign architectures to avoid 404 errors
+# Only allow fetching packages for the added architecture from ports.ubuntu.com
+sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99-no-foreign-arch <<APT_CONF
+APT::Architectures "${DEB_HOST_ARCH}";
+APT::Architectures:: "${DEB_ARCH}";
+APT_CONF
 
 sudo dpkg --add-architecture "$DEB_ARCH"
 cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/xcompile.sources
@@ -61,10 +56,17 @@ sudo update-alternatives --install \
      /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-gcc  \
      ${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-gcc           \
      /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-gcc-${GCC_VERSION} 10
+sudo update-alternatives --set \
+     ${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-gcc \
+     /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-gcc-${GCC_VERSION}
+
 
 sudo update-alternatives --install \
      /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-g++  \
      ${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-g++           \
      /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-g++-${GCC_VERSION} 10
+sudo update-alternatives --set \
+     ${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-g++ \
+     /usr/bin/${TARGET_ARCH}-linux-gnu-g++-${GCC_VERSION}
 
 foldable end install_crosscompile
diff --git a/setup-build-env/install_packages.sh b/setup-build-env/install_packages.sh
index 4d8d81d..55c78ea 100755
--- a/setup-build-env/install_packages.sh
+++ b/setup-build-env/install_packages.sh
@@ -10,14 +10,35 @@ export GCC_VERSION=${GCC_VERSION:-14}
 
 foldable start install_packages
 
+source /etc/os-release
+
+if [[ "$GCC_VERSION" -ge 15 && "${UBUNTU_CODENAME}" != "${UBUNTU_CODENAME_OVERRIDE}" ]]; then
+    UBUNTU_CODENAME=${UBUNTU_CODENAME_OVERRIDE}
+    cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/${UBUNTU_CODENAME}.list
+deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu ${UBUNTU_CODENAME} main universe
+deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-updates main universe
+deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu ${UBUNTU_CODENAME}-security main universe
+EOF
+    cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/${UBUNTU_CODENAME}
+Package: *
+Pin: release n=${UBUNTU_CODENAME}
+Pin-Priority: 999
+EOF
+fi
+
+sudo apt-get update -y
+
+# add git-core/ppa to install latest git version
+sudo -E apt-get install -y software-properties-common
+sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:git-core/ppa
 sudo apt-get update -y
 
 sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y                     \
      bc bison build-essential cmake cpu-checker curl dumb-init         \
      elfutils ethtool ethtool flex gawk git iproute2 iptables          \
      iputils-ping jq keyutils libguestfs-tools pkg-config              \
-     python3-docutils python3-minimal rsync software-properties-common \
-     sudo texinfo tree tzdata wget xxd xz-utils zstd
+     python3-docutils python3-minimal rsync sudo texinfo tree          \
+     tzdata wget xxd xz-utils zstd
 
 sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y            \
      binutils-dev libcap-dev libdw-dev libelf-dev libpcap-dev \
@@ -30,5 +51,7 @@ sudo -E apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y               \
 sudo apt-get install -y gcc-${GCC_VERSION} g++-${GCC_VERSION}
 sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-${GCC_VERSION} 10
 sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-${GCC_VERSION} 10
+sudo update-alternatives --set gcc /usr/bin/gcc-${GCC_VERSION}
+sudo update-alternatives --set g++ /usr/bin/g++-${GCC_VERSION}
 
 foldable end install_packages