diff --git a/.daily_canary b/.daily_canary
index 53fe29064b7a..14115e54561c 100644
--- a/.daily_canary
+++ b/.daily_canary
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
    -^-     ___           ___
   (- -)   (= =)   |     Y   &  +--?
  (  V  ) /  .  \  |    +---=---'
-/--x-m- /--n-n---xXx--/--yY------>>>
+/--x-m- /--n-n--\xXx--/--yY------>>
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 565d57657270..1e33e98b170f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 - Updated `nghttp2` from `1.51.0` to `1.55.1`.
 - Converted SNP attestation UVM endorsements from integer to arbitrary string.
 - Updated Intel SGX PSW from 2.17 to 2.20 (#5616)
+- Path to the enclave file should now be passed as `--enclave-file` CLI argument to `cchost`, rather than `enclave.file` entry within configuration file. This is to ensure the path to the application file is attested on Confidential Containers/SNP, even if the configuration itself is provided from un-attested storage. The configuration entry is deprecated, and will be removed in a future release.
 
 ## [5.0.0-dev1]
 
diff --git a/doc/host_config_schema/cchost_config.json b/doc/host_config_schema/cchost_config.json
index b49457a4be6c..c1f5593dd17f 100644
--- a/doc/host_config_schema/cchost_config.json
+++ b/doc/host_config_schema/cchost_config.json
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
         }
       },
       "description": "This section includes configuration for the enclave application launched by this node",
-      "required": ["file"],
+      "required": [],
       "additionalProperties": false
     },
     "network": {
@@ -680,6 +680,6 @@
       "minimum": 0
     }
   },
-  "required": ["enclave", "network", "command"],
+  "required": ["network", "command"],
   "additionalProperties": false
 }
diff --git a/src/host/configuration.h b/src/host/configuration.h
index a2339798be30..1d340a07c171 100644
--- a/src/host/configuration.h
+++ b/src/host/configuration.h
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ namespace host
       std::string file;
       EnclaveType type;
       EnclavePlatform platform;
+
+      bool operator==(const Enclave&) const = default;
     };
     Enclave enclave = {};
 
@@ -166,8 +168,8 @@ namespace host
   };
 
   DECLARE_JSON_TYPE_WITH_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::Enclave);
-  DECLARE_JSON_REQUIRED_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::Enclave, type, file);
-  DECLARE_JSON_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::Enclave, platform);
+  DECLARE_JSON_REQUIRED_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::Enclave);
+  DECLARE_JSON_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::Enclave, file, type, platform);
 
   DECLARE_JSON_TYPE_WITH_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::OutputFiles);
   DECLARE_JSON_REQUIRED_FIELDS(CCHostConfig::OutputFiles);
@@ -223,9 +225,10 @@ namespace host
     CCHostConfig::Command, service_certificate_file, start, join, recover);
 
   DECLARE_JSON_TYPE_WITH_BASE_AND_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(CCHostConfig, CCFConfig);
-  DECLARE_JSON_REQUIRED_FIELDS(CCHostConfig, enclave, command);
+  DECLARE_JSON_REQUIRED_FIELDS(CCHostConfig, command);
   DECLARE_JSON_OPTIONAL_FIELDS(
     CCHostConfig,
+    enclave,
     tick_interval,
     slow_io_logging_threshold,
     node_client_interface,
diff --git a/src/host/main.cpp b/src/host/main.cpp
index 13a7511744b8..10bd492be771 100644
--- a/src/host/main.cpp
+++ b/src/host/main.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,13 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
   // ignore SIGPIPE
   signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
-  CLI::App app{"ccf"};
+  CLI::App app{
+    "CCF Host launcher. Runs a single CCF node, based on the given "
+    "configuration file.\n"
+    "Some parameters are marked \"(security critical)\" - these must be passed "
+    "on the CLI rather than within a configuration file, so that (on relevant "
+    "platforms) their value is captured in an attestation even if the "
+    "configuration file itself is unattested.\n"};
 
   std::string config_file_path = "config.json";
   app.add_option(
@@ -109,9 +115,15 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     .add_option(
       "--enclave-log-level",
       enclave_log_level,
-      "Logging level for the enclave code")
+      "Logging level for the enclave code (security critical)")
     ->transform(CLI::CheckedTransformer(log_level_options, CLI::ignore_case));
 
+  std::string enclave_file_path;
+  app.add_option(
+    "--enclave-file",
+    enclave_file_path,
+    "Path to enclave application (security critical)");
+
   try
   {
     app.parse(argc, argv);
@@ -262,8 +274,26 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     config.slow_io_logging_threshold;
 
   // create the enclave
+  if (!config.enclave.file.empty())
+  {
+    LOG_FAIL_FMT(
+      "DEPRECATED: Enclave path was specified in config file! This should be "
+      "removed from the config, and passed directly to the CLI instead");
+
+    if (enclave_file_path.empty())
+    {
+      enclave_file_path = config.enclave.file;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (enclave_file_path.empty())
+  {
+    LOG_FATAL_FMT("No enclave file path specified");
+    return static_cast<int>(CLI::ExitCodes::ValidationError);
+  }
+
   host::Enclave enclave(
-    config.enclave.file, config.enclave.type, config.enclave.platform);
+    enclave_file_path, config.enclave.type, config.enclave.platform);
 
   // messaging ring buffers
   const auto buffer_size = config.memory.circuit_size;
diff --git a/tests/config.jinja b/tests/config.jinja
index 03d738915ccc..7db010bcf6c2 100644
--- a/tests/config.jinja
+++ b/tests/config.jinja
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 {
   "enclave": {
-    "file": "{{ enclave_file }}",
     "type": "{{ enclave_type }}",
     "platform": "{{ enclave_platform }}"
   },
diff --git a/tests/e2e_operations.py b/tests/e2e_operations.py
index 6f967bd47e70..b3a5fb5e3b46 100644
--- a/tests/e2e_operations.py
+++ b/tests/e2e_operations.py
@@ -296,6 +296,7 @@ def run_file_operations(args):
                 network.stop_all_nodes(skip_verification=True)
 
                 test_split_ledger_on_stopped_network(primary, args)
+                args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset for future tests
 
 
 def run_tls_san_checks(args):
@@ -306,7 +307,6 @@ def run_tls_san_checks(args):
         args.perf_nodes,
         pdb=args.pdb,
     ) as network:
-        args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset from previous test
         network.start_and_open(args)
         network.verify_service_certificate_validity_period(
             args.initial_service_cert_validity_days
@@ -366,13 +366,13 @@ def run_config_timeout_check(args):
         args.perf_nodes,
         pdb=args.pdb,
     ) as network:
-        args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset from previous test
         network.start_and_open(args)
     # This is relatively direct test to make sure the config timeout feature
     # works as intended. It is difficult to do with the existing framework
     # as is because of the indirections and the fact that start() is a
     # synchronous call.
-    start_node_path = network.nodes[0].remote.remote.root
+    node = network.nodes[0]
+    start_node_path = node.remote.remote.root
     # Remove ledger and pid file to allow a restart
     shutil.rmtree(os.path.join(start_node_path, "0.ledger"))
     os.remove(os.path.join(start_node_path, "node.pid"))
@@ -398,6 +398,8 @@ def run_config_timeout_check(args):
             "0.config.json",
             "--config-timeout",
             f"{config_timeout}s",
+            "--enclave-file",
+            node.remote.enclave_file,
         ],
         cwd=start_node_path,
         env=env,
@@ -432,7 +434,6 @@ def run_sighup_check(args):
         args.perf_nodes,
         pdb=args.pdb,
     ) as network:
-        args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset from previous test
         network.start_and_open(args)
         network.nodes[0].remote.remote.hangup()
         time.sleep(1)
@@ -473,7 +474,6 @@ def run_preopen_readiness_check(args):
         args.perf_nodes,
         pdb=args.pdb,
     ) as network:
-        args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset from previous test
         network.start(args)
         primary, _ = network.find_primary()
         with primary.client() as c:
@@ -497,7 +497,6 @@ def run_pid_file_check(args):
         args.perf_nodes,
         pdb=args.pdb,
     ) as network:
-        args.common_read_only_ledger_dir = None  # Reset from previous test
         network.start_and_open(args)
         LOG.info("Check that pid file exists")
         node = network.nodes[0]
diff --git a/tests/infra/remote.py b/tests/infra/remote.py
index b637b7bb5b3d..3f13e2722762 100644
--- a/tests/infra/remote.py
+++ b/tests/infra/remote.py
@@ -761,7 +761,7 @@ def __init__(
             t = t_env.get_template(self.TEMPLATE_CONFIGURATION_FILE)
             output = t.render(
                 start_type=start_type.name.title(),
-                enclave_file=self.enclave_file,
+                enclave_file=self.enclave_file,  # Ignored by current jinja, but passed for LTS compat
                 enclave_type=enclave_type.title(),
                 enclave_platform=enclave_platform.title()
                 if enclave_platform == "virtual"
@@ -842,6 +842,12 @@ def __init__(
                     enclave_log_level,
                 ]
 
+        if v is None or v >= Version("4.0.9"):
+            cmd += [
+                "--enclave-file",
+                self.enclave_file,
+            ]
+
         if start_type == StartType.start:
             members_info = kwargs.get("members_info")
             if not members_info: