diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
index 1bae771f79..a652b1ea5d 100644
--- a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
+++ b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile
@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@
 # The images our CI infrastructure uses, described under `.gitlab/ci/docker/`,
 # are built on the distributions we test CMake against and are minimized for
 # CI use.  Prepare the environment from scratch on Ubuntu instead: it offers
-# the broadest ecosystem of packages and tooling for development, including a
-# recent `cmake` and the `clang-format` version our style rules require.
+# the broadest ecosystem of packages and tooling for development, including
+# the `clang-format` version our style rules require and the Kitware APT
+# repository through which CMake itself is published.
 ARG BASE_IMAGE=ubuntu:26.04
 
 FROM ${BASE_IMAGE}
@@ -15,6 +16,21 @@ ARG USERNAME=cmake-dev
 ARG USER_UID=1000
 ARG USER_GID=${USER_UID}
 
+# The SHA-256 of the signing key `apt.kitware.com` publishes.  Kitware rotates
+# that key every few years; updating this hash both approves the new key and
+# forces the step below to fetch it again rather than reuse a cached layer.
+# Read the current value with:
+# curl -fsSL https://apt.kitware.com/keys/kitware-archive-latest.asc | sha256sum
+ARG KITWARE_PUBLIC_KEY_SHA256=801bc629e356c3c96f184351272914222ce427777400fa7d1baed3ab180b3e3b
+
+# Add the Kitware APT repository, which carries CMake releases newer than the
+# ones the distribution provides, before installing anything from it below.
+RUN --mount=type=bind,source=install_kitware_archive.sh,target=/root/install_kitware_archive.sh \
+    --mount=type=bind,source=docker-clean,target=/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/docker-clean \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/var/lib/apt/lists,sharing=locked \
+    --mount=type=cache,target=/var/cache/apt,sharing=locked \
+    sh /root/install_kitware_archive.sh ${KITWARE_PUBLIC_KEY_SHA256}
+
 # Install the packages needed to build CMake, run its test suite, build its
 # documentation, and satisfy its style rules, along with a few more that make
 # the container a comfortable place to work.
diff --git a/.devcontainer/install_kitware_archive.sh b/.devcontainer/install_kitware_archive.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..d120d7cc08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.devcontainer/install_kitware_archive.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Add the Kitware APT repository, which carries CMake releases newer than the
+# ones the distribution provides.  See `Help/dev/devcontainer.rst`.
+
+set -e
+
+readonly key_sha256="$1"
+
+if test -z "$key_sha256"; then
+    echo "usage: $0 <sha256-of-kitware-archive-key>" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Install without asking questions.
+export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+# `VERSION_CODENAME` names the suite the repository provides for the
+# distribution the container is based on.
+. /etc/os-release
+
+readonly sources=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/kitware.sources
+readonly keyring=/usr/share/keyrings/kitware-archive-keyring
+readonly key_url=https://apt.kitware.com/keys/kitware-archive-latest.asc
+
+# Describe the repository, verified with the keyring named as the argument.
+write_sources() {
+    cat > "$sources" <<EOF
+Types: deb
+URIs: https://apt.kitware.com/ubuntu/
+Suites: ${VERSION_CODENAME}
+Components: main
+Signed-By: $1
+EOF
+}
+
+apt-get update
+
+# The base image carries neither `curl` nor a certificate store, and neither
+# the key nor the repository can be reached without one: both redirect HTTP
+# to HTTPS.
+apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl
+
+# Trust the repository with the key it publishes, checked against the hash our
+# caller pins, just long enough to install `kitware-archive-keyring`.  Once
+# that package provides the key, `apt` follows the rotations Kitware makes to
+# it each year, which a pinned hash would not.  `apt` reads an armored key
+# only from a `.asc` file, and the package provides a `.gpg` one, so name the
+# file each step uses accordingly.
+curl -fsSL -o "$keyring.asc" "$key_url"
+echo "$key_sha256  $keyring.asc" | sha256sum --check
+write_sources "$keyring.asc"
+apt-get update
+apt-get install -y kitware-archive-keyring
+write_sources "$keyring.gpg"
+rm "$keyring.asc"
diff --git a/Help/dev/devcontainer.rst b/Help/dev/devcontainer.rst
index a059ceb641..bbc35f77cb 100644
--- a/Help/dev/devcontainer.rst
+++ b/Help/dev/devcontainer.rst
@@ -97,7 +97,19 @@ Provided Tools
 In addition to the compiler and the external dependencies CMake can build
 against, the container provides:
 
-* ``cmake`` and ``ninja``, to build CMake with.
+* ``cmake`` and ``ninja``, to build CMake with.  ``cmake`` comes from the
+  `Kitware APT repository`_, which the container configures, so it is the
+  latest CMake release rather than the older one Ubuntu carries, and
+  ``apt-get`` offers each new release as it is published:
+
+  .. code-block:: console
+
+    $ sudo apt-get update
+    $ sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade cmake
+
+  The repository also carries release candidates, in a suite named after the
+  Ubuntu release with ``-rc`` appended.  Add it to the ``Suites`` field of
+  ``/etc/apt/sources.list.d/kitware.sources`` to install those as well.
 
 * ``ccache``, to speed up repeated builds, e.g.:
 
@@ -139,6 +151,7 @@ against, the container provides:
 
   See `GitLab Authentication`_ below for the one-time setup they need.
 
+.. _`Kitware APT repository`: https://apt.kitware.com
 .. _`C++ Code Style`: source.rst#c-code-style
 .. _`.pre-commit-config.yaml`: ../../.pre-commit-config.yaml
 .. _`CMake Documentation Guide`: documentation.rst