diff --git a/doc/ChangeLog.md b/doc/ChangeLog.md
index 1f4fce13f..1fe27971c 100644
--- a/doc/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/doc/ChangeLog.md
@@ -24,8 +24,12 @@ All notable changes to the project are documented in this file.
   authorized users, like `admin`, to not being able to query status
   of OSPF or BFD.  Workaround by using the UNIX shell `sudo vtysh`.
   Regression introduced in v24.08.0
+- Fix #603: regression in GNS3 image, starts in test mode by default. 
+  Introduced in v24.08.
 - Fix #613: CLI regression in tab completion of container commands,
   e.g., `container shell <TAB>`.  Regression introduced in v24.08.0
+- Fix #616: Silent failure when selecting bash as login shell for
+  non-admin user, this silent lock has been removed.
 - Fix #618: CLI command `show interfaces` does not show bridges and
   bridge ports, regression introduced in v24.08.0 -- only affects
   bridges without multicast snooping
@@ -33,8 +37,6 @@ All notable changes to the project are documented in this file.
   regression introduced in v24.06.0
 - Spellcheck path to `/var/lib/containers` when unpacking OCI archives
   on container upgrade
-- Fix #616: Silent failure when selecting bash as login shell for
-  non-admin user, this silent lock has been removed.
 - The timeout before giving up on loading the `startup-config` at boot
   is now 1 minute, just like operations via other front-ends (NETCONF
   and RESTCONF). This was previously (incorrectly) set to 10 seconds.
diff --git a/test/.env b/test/.env
index e61b722cc..99dfa08ce 100644
--- a/test/.env
+++ b/test/.env
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # shellcheck disable=SC2034,SC2154
 
 # Current container image
-INFIX_TEST=ghcr.io/kernelkit/infix-test:1.8
+INFIX_TEST=ghcr.io/kernelkit/infix-test:1.9
 
 ixdir=$(readlink -f "$testdir/..")
 logdir=$(readlink -f "$testdir/.log")
diff --git a/test/env b/test/env
index d47205edc..f10a1ca6b 100755
--- a/test/env
+++ b/test/env
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ usage: test/env [-cDhiKr] -f <IMAGE> -q <QENETH-DIR> <COMMAND> [<ARGS>...]
 EOF
 }
 
+get_base_img()
+{
+    local files="$1"
+    local base_img_file
+    base_img_file=$(echo "$files" | tr ' ' '\n' | grep -- '-disk.img$')
+    echo "$envdir/qeneth/$(basename "$base_img_file")"
+}
+
 start_topology()
 {
     qenethdir="$1"
@@ -87,6 +95,9 @@ start_topology()
 	ln -sf "$file" "$envdir/qeneth/$filename"
     done
 
+    base_img=$(get_base_img "$files")
+    $testdir/inject-test-mode -b "$base_img" -o "${base_img%-disk.img}-disk-test.img"
+
     (cd "$envdir/qeneth/" && $qeneth generate && $qeneth start)
     INFAMY_ARGS="$INFAMY_ARGS $envdir/qeneth/topology.dot"
 
diff --git a/test/inject-test-mode b/test/inject-test-mode
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..2f499b5b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/inject-test-mode
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# This script injects a "test-mode" file into a copy of the main disk image. 
+# It begins by parsing the partition table of the disk image to identify the
+# 'aux' partition, which is then extracted. An empty 'test-mode' file is 
+# injected into the extracted partition, and the modified partition is written
+# back to the output image. The output image can subsequently be used as a 
+# backing image for Copy-on-Write (QCOW) images utilized by Qeneth.
+
+set -e
+
+while getopts "b:o:" opt; do
+  case $opt in
+    b) base_img="$OPTARG" ;;  # Base image (Original image)
+    o) output_img="$OPTARG" ;;  # Output image (Backing image for QCoW images)
+    *) echo "Usage: $0 -b <BASE-IMAGE> -o <OUTPUT-IMAGE>" ; exit 1 ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [ -z "$base_img" ] || [ -z "$output_img" ]; then
+  echo "Both -b (base image) and -o (output image) parameters are required."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+rm -f "$output_img"
+if ! cp "$base_img" "$output_img"; then
+  echo "Error: Failed to copy $base_img to $output_img"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! part_table=$(fdisk -l "$output_img" 2>/dev/null); then
+  echo "Error: Failed to read partition table from $output_img"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+aux_line=$(echo "$part_table" | grep 'aux')
+if [ -z "$aux_line" ]; then
+  echo "Error: 'aux' partition not found in $output_img"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+start=$(echo "$aux_line" | awk '{print $2}')
+end=$(echo "$aux_line" | awk '{print $3}')
+count=$(($end - $start + 1))
+block_size=$(echo "$part_table" | grep "Logical sector size" | awk '{print $4}')
+
+dd if="$output_img" of="tmpaux" skip="$start" count="$count" bs="$block_size" status=none
+
+touch tmp-empty-file
+e2cp tmp-empty-file tmpaux:/test-mode
+rm tmp-empty-file
+
+dd of="$output_img" if="tmpaux" seek="$start" count="$count" bs="$block_size" status=none conv=notrunc
+rm tmpaux
diff --git a/test/virt/dual/topology.dot.in b/test/virt/dual/topology.dot.in
index f28bf6968..588a2ee22 100644
--- a/test/virt/dual/topology.dot.in
+++ b/test/virt/dual/topology.dot.in
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ graph "dual" {
         node [shape=record, fontname="monospace"];
 	edge [color="cornflowerblue", penwidth="2"];
 
-	qn_template="infix-x86_64";
+	qn_template="infix-bios-x86_64";
+	qn_image="infix-x86_64-disk-test.img"
 	qn_oui="00:a0:85";
 	qn_append="quiet";
 
diff --git a/test/virt/quad/topology.dot.in b/test/virt/quad/topology.dot.in
index dde7dc4c7..de3d55345 100644
--- a/test/virt/quad/topology.dot.in
+++ b/test/virt/quad/topology.dot.in
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ graph "quad" {
 	edge [color="cornflowerblue", penwidth="2"];
 
 	qn_template="infix-bios-x86_64";
+	qn_image="infix-x86_64-disk-test.img"
 	qn_oui="00:a0:85";
 	qn_append="quiet";