diff --git a/contrib/snapshotservice/service.go b/contrib/snapshotservice/service.go
index 17bda7a6390e..b03afafe3ba1 100644
--- a/contrib/snapshotservice/service.go
+++ b/contrib/snapshotservice/service.go
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ func (s service) Commit(ctx context.Context, cr *snapshotsapi.CommitSnapshotRequ
 	if cr.Labels != nil {
 		opts = append(opts, snapshots.WithLabels(cr.Labels))
 	}
+	if cr.Parent != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, snapshots.WithParent(cr.Parent))
+	}
 	if err := s.sn.Commit(ctx, cr.Name, cr.Key, opts...); err != nil {
 		return nil, errgrpc.ToGRPC(err)
 	}
diff --git a/contrib/snapshotservice/service_test.go b/contrib/snapshotservice/service_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b2b1a4cef69e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/snapshotservice/service_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package snapshotservice
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	snapshotsapi "github.com/containerd/containerd/api/services/snapshots/v1"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/mount"
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/core/snapshots"
+)
+
+// mockSnapshotter is a mock implementation of snapshots.Snapshotter
+// that captures the options passed to Commit for testing.
+type mockSnapshotter struct {
+	commitOpts []snapshots.Opt
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Stat(ctx context.Context, key string) (snapshots.Info, error) {
+	return snapshots.Info{}, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Update(ctx context.Context, info snapshots.Info, fieldpaths ...string) (snapshots.Info, error) {
+	return snapshots.Info{}, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Usage(ctx context.Context, key string) (snapshots.Usage, error) {
+	return snapshots.Usage{}, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Mounts(ctx context.Context, key string) ([]mount.Mount, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Prepare(ctx context.Context, key, parent string, opts ...snapshots.Opt) ([]mount.Mount, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) View(ctx context.Context, key, parent string, opts ...snapshots.Opt) ([]mount.Mount, error) {
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Commit(ctx context.Context, name, key string, opts ...snapshots.Opt) error {
+	m.commitOpts = opts
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Remove(ctx context.Context, key string) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Walk(ctx context.Context, fn snapshots.WalkFunc, filters ...string) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockSnapshotter) Close() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+// TestCommitParentOption verifies that the Parent field from CommitSnapshotRequest
+// is correctly passed to the snapshotter via WithParent option.
+func TestCommitParentOption(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		name           string
+		parent         string
+		labels         map[string]string
+		expectedParent string
+		expectedLabels map[string]string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:           "WithParent",
+			parent:         "parent-snapshot",
+			expectedParent: "parent-snapshot",
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "WithoutParent",
+			parent:         "",
+			expectedParent: "",
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "WithLabelsAndParent",
+			parent:         "parent-snapshot",
+			labels:         map[string]string{"test-label": "test-value"},
+			expectedParent: "parent-snapshot",
+			expectedLabels: map[string]string{"test-label": "test-value"},
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "WithLabelsOnly",
+			parent:         "",
+			labels:         map[string]string{"key": "value"},
+			expectedParent: "",
+			expectedLabels: map[string]string{"key": "value"},
+		},
+	} {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			mock := &mockSnapshotter{}
+			svc := FromSnapshotter(mock)
+
+			req := &snapshotsapi.CommitSnapshotRequest{
+				Name:   "test-snapshot",
+				Key:    "test-key",
+				Parent: tc.parent,
+				Labels: tc.labels,
+			}
+
+			_, err := svc.Commit(context.Background(), req)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Commit failed: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			// Apply all opts to check the resulting Info
+			info := &snapshots.Info{}
+			for _, opt := range mock.commitOpts {
+				if err := opt(info); err != nil {
+					t.Fatalf("failed to apply opt: %v", err)
+				}
+			}
+
+			if info.Parent != tc.expectedParent {
+				t.Errorf("expected parent %q, got %q", tc.expectedParent, info.Parent)
+			}
+
+			if tc.expectedLabels != nil {
+				for k, v := range tc.expectedLabels {
+					if info.Labels[k] != v {
+						t.Errorf("expected label %q=%q, got %q", k, v, info.Labels[k])
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/cri/nri/nri_api_linux.go b/internal/cri/nri/nri_api_linux.go
index 374dcae1a714..b34ebbb4de39 100644
--- a/internal/cri/nri/nri_api_linux.go
+++ b/internal/cri/nri/nri_api_linux.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"maps"
+	"slices"
 
 	eventtypes "github.com/containerd/containerd/api/events"
 	containerd "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2/client"
@@ -1043,6 +1044,18 @@ func (c *criContainer) GetRlimits() []*api.POSIXRlimit {
 	return rlimits
 }
 
+func (c *criContainer) GetUser() *api.User {
+	if c.spec.Process == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	return &api.User{
+		Uid:            c.spec.Process.User.UID,
+		Gid:            c.spec.Process.User.GID,
+		AdditionalGids: slices.Clone(c.spec.Process.User.AdditionalGids),
+	}
+}
+
 //
 // conversion to/from CRI types
 //
diff --git a/internal/cri/server/container_checkpoint_linux.go b/internal/cri/server/container_checkpoint_linux.go
index de6f287f7998..71953e31920a 100644
--- a/internal/cri/server/container_checkpoint_linux.go
+++ b/internal/cri/server/container_checkpoint_linux.go
@@ -253,6 +253,9 @@ func (c *criService) CRImportCheckpoint(
 	}
 
 	originalAnnotations := containerStatus.GetAnnotations()
+	if originalAnnotations == nil {
+		originalAnnotations = make(map[string]string)
+	}
 	originalLabels := containerStatus.GetLabels()
 
 	sandboxUID := sandboxConfig.GetMetadata().GetUid()
diff --git a/internal/nri/container.go b/internal/nri/container.go
index ab1cd14eab7c..6dc9cb57f6e4 100644
--- a/internal/nri/container.go
+++ b/internal/nri/container.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ type Container interface {
 	GetLinuxContainer() LinuxContainer
 	GetCDIDevices() []*nri.CDIDevice
 	GetRlimits() []*nri.POSIXRlimit
+	GetUser() *nri.User
 }
 
 type LinuxContainer interface {
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ func commonContainerToNRI(ctr Container) *nri.Container {
 		FinishedAt:   status.FinishedAt,
 		ExitCode:     status.ExitCode,
 		Rlimits:      ctr.GetRlimits(),
+		User:         ctr.GetUser(),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/content/local/store.go b/plugins/content/local/store.go
index 794c82c25e3b..1b9abdd3b06c 100644
--- a/plugins/content/local/store.go
+++ b/plugins/content/local/store.go
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ package local
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"io/fs"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
@@ -84,8 +86,18 @@ func NewStore(root string) (content.Store, error) {
 // require labels and should use `NewStore`. `NewLabeledStore` is primarily
 // useful for tests or standalone implementations.
 func NewLabeledStore(root string, ls LabelStore) (content.Store, error) {
-	supported, _ := fsverity.IsSupported(root)
-
+	if _, err := os.Stat(root); err != nil {
+		if !errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stat %q: %w", root, err)
+		}
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(root, 0755); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to mkdir %q: %w", root, err)
+		}
+	}
+	supported, err := fsverity.IsSupported(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.L.WithError(err).WithField("path", root).Warnf("failed check for fsverity support")
+	}
 	s := &store{
 		root:               root,
 		ls:                 ls,
diff --git a/plugins/content/local/store_test.go b/plugins/content/local/store_test.go
index 54b082dcd6e4..0ce3a9c9c9c3 100644
--- a/plugins/content/local/store_test.go
+++ b/plugins/content/local/store_test.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
 	"runtime"
@@ -94,15 +95,50 @@ func (mls *memoryLabelStore) Update(d digest.Digest, update map[string]string) (
 func TestContent(t *testing.T) {
 	testsuite.ContentSuite(t, "fs", func(ctx context.Context, root string) (context.Context, content.Store, func() error, error) {
 		cs, err := NewLabeledStore(root, newMemoryLabelStore())
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, nil, nil, err
-		}
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		return ctx, cs, func() error {
 			return nil
 		}, nil
 	})
 }
 
+func TestContentRootDir(t *testing.T) {
+	// test dir exist
+	dirExist := t.TempDir()
+	_, err := NewLabeledStore(dirExist, newMemoryLabelStore())
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	// test dir doesn't exist
+	dir := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "test_dir001")
+	_, err = NewLabeledStore(dir, newMemoryLabelStore())
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = os.Stat(dir)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestInvalidPermissionRootDir(t *testing.T) {
+	// test dir permissions are invalid
+	if os.Getuid() != 0 {
+		t.Skip("skipping test that requires root")
+	}
+	_, err := exec.LookPath("chattr")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping test that requires chattr command")
+	}
+	dirBadPermission := t.TempDir()
+	cmd := exec.Command("chattr", "+i", dirBadPermission)
+	_, err = cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	defer func() {
+		cmd := exec.Command("chattr", "-i", dirBadPermission)
+		_, err = cmd.CombinedOutput()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+	}()
+	_, err = fsverity.IsSupported(dirBadPermission)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal(fmt.Errorf("err can't be nil"))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestContentWriter(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, tmpdir, cs, cleanup := contentStoreEnv(t)
 	defer cleanup()