diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-pr-ab-id.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-pr-ab-id.yml
index 8f2ed1888..1726c2529 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validate-pr-ab-id.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-pr-ab-id.yml
@@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ on:
     types: [opened, reopened, edited, labeled, synchronize]
 
 jobs:
-# This action checks your pull request to make sure it is linked to a work item using AB# before you can merge.
-  validation:
-    name: Check if PR has a valid ADO ID
+  check-and-apply-abid:
+    name: Check and apply AB#ID to PR title
     permissions:
       contents: read
       issues: write
@@ -20,139 +19,74 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     if: "!contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'skip AB ID validation')"
     steps:
-      - uses: danhellem/github-actions-pr-is-linked-to-work-item@main
-        
-  # Get AB#ID
-  get_ab_id:
-    name: Get AB ID
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: validation
-    outputs:
-      abid: ${{ steps.get.outputs.id }}
-    steps:
-  # Extracts the AB ID from the pull_request body using regex and store the result using outputs 
-      - name: Get AB ID from comment
-        id: get
+      - name: Validate PR is linked to a work item
+        uses: danhellem/github-actions-pr-is-linked-to-work-item@main
+        continue-on-error: true
+
+      - name: Extract AB ID from PR body
+        id: extract-ab
+        shell: bash
         env:
           PR_BODY: ${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}
         run: |
-          result=$(echo "$PR_BODY" | grep -oP '(?<=#)\d+')
-          echo "id=${result}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          clean=$(printf "%s" "$PR_BODY" | tr -d '`')
+          # Get first AB ID if multiple are present
+          abid=$(printf "%s" "$clean" | grep -oP '(?<=AB#)\d+' | head -n1 || true)
+          echo "abid=${abid}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  # Get Pull request ID
-  get_pr_id:
-    name: Get PR ID
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: validation
-    outputs:
-      prid: ${{ steps.pr.outputs.id }}
-    steps:
-  # Extracts the pull request id and store the result using outputs 
-      - name: Extract pull request id
-        id: pr
-        env:
-          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
-        run: echo "id=$PR_NUMBER" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+      - name: Abort if no AB ID found
+        if: steps.extract-ab.outputs.abid == ''
+        run: |
+          echo "No AB ID found in PR body; failing the workflow."
+          exit 1
 
-  # Get Pull request title
-  get_pr_title:
-    name: Get PR title
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      issues: read
-      pull-requests: read
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: get_pr_id
-    outputs:
-      prtitle: ${{ steps.current-title.outputs.title }}
-    steps:
-      # Get current PR title
-      - name: Get the current PR title
-        id: current-title
+      - name: Get current PR title
+        id: get-title
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          PR_ID: ${{ needs.get_pr_id.outputs.prid }}
+          PR_ID: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
         run: |
-          PR_TITLE=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
-            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
-            "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${PR_ID}" \
-            | jq -r .title)
+          PR_TITLE=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${{ env.PR_ID }} | jq -r .title)
           echo "title=$PR_TITLE" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  # Checks if the Pull request contains Fixed AB#ID in the title,
-  # if not cretaes a new title appending ',Fixed AB#ID' to the current title
-  check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated:
-    name: Check if title needs to be updated
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [get_pr_title, get_ab_id]
-    outputs:
-      new_pr_title: ${{ steps.new-title.outputs.new_pr_title }}
-      update_required: ${{ steps.check.outputs.update_required }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Check if PR title contains fix keyword with AB# using grep
-        id: check
+      - name: Decide if title needs update
+        id: decide
+        shell: bash
         env:
-          PR_TITLE: ${{ needs.get_pr_title.outputs.prtitle }}
+          PR_TITLE: ${{ steps.get-title.outputs.title }}
+          AB_ID: ${{ steps.extract-ab.outputs.abid }}
         run: |
-          if echo "$PR_TITLE" | grep -i -q '\bfix\(ed\|es\)\? AB#[0-9]'; then
-            echo "Pattern found in PR title!, no need to update."
+          if [ -z "${AB_ID}" ]; then
+            echo "update_required=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if echo "$PR_TITLE" | grep -i -qE '\bfix(es|ed)?\b.*AB#[0-9]'; then
             echo "update_required=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           else
-            echo "Pattern not found in PR title!"
+            NEW_TITLE="$PR_TITLE, Fixes AB#${AB_ID}"
             echo "update_required=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+            echo "new_title=${NEW_TITLE}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           fi
-      - name: Generate new PR title
-        env:
-          AB_ID: ${{ needs.get_ab_id.outputs.abid }}
-          CURRENT_PR_TITLE: ${{ needs.get_pr_title.outputs.prtitle }}
-        if: steps.check.outputs.update_required == 'true'
-        id: new-title
-        run: |
-          NEW_TITLE="$CURRENT_PR_TITLE, Fixes AB#$AB_ID"
-          echo "new_pr_title=${NEW_TITLE}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-  # Update new title
-  update_title:
-    name: Update title
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      issues: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated, get_pr_id]
-    if: needs.check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated.outputs.update_required == 'true'
-    steps:
-      - name: Update the pull request title
+      - name: Update PR title (if required)
+        if: steps.decide.outputs.update_required == 'true'
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          PR_ID: ${{ needs.get_pr_id.outputs.prid }}
-          NEW_TITLE:  ${{ needs.check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated.outputs.new_pr_title }}
+          PR_ID: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          NEW_TITLE: ${{ steps.decide.outputs.new_title }}
         run: |
-          curl -X PATCH \
-            -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
-            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
-            "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${PR_ID}" \
-            -d "$(jq -n --arg title "$NEW_TITLE" '{title: $title}')"
-  
-  # This job will determine the final status of the workflow and can be made a requirement before merging.
-  # The job will succeed if any of the following conditions are met:
-  # 1. The pull request title was successfully updated.
-  # 2. The pull request has the 'skip AB ID validation' label.
-  # 3. The title was already updated.
-  status_report:
-    name: AB ID validation Check
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [update_title, check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated, validation]
-    if: always()
-    steps:
-      - name: Check status of job1
-        id: check_status
+          curl -s -X PATCH -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" https://api.github.com/repos/${{ github.repository }}/pulls/${{ env.PR_ID }} -d '{"title":"'"${{ env.NEW_TITLE }}"'"}'
+
+      - name: Final status reporting
+        if: always()
         run: |
-          if [[ "${{ needs.update_title.result }}" == "success" ]] ||
-             [[ "${{ needs.validation.result }}" == "skipped" ]] ||
-             [[ "${{ needs.update_title.result }}" == "skipped" &&  "${{ needs.check_if_title_needs_to_be_updated.result }}" == "success" ]]; then
-              echo "Job succeeded or was skipped."
-          else
-              echo "Job failed or was cancelled."
-            exit 1
+          # Consider the run successful if either title was updated or the PR was skipped due to missing AB ID
+          if [ "${{ steps.decide.outputs.update_required }}" == "true" ]; then
+            echo "PR title updated to include AB ID."
+            exit 0
+          fi
+          if [ "${{ steps.extract-ab.outputs.abid }}" == "" ]; then
+            echo "No AB ID found; validation skipped by design."
+            exit 0
           fi
+          echo "No change required or validation passed." 
diff --git a/azure-pipelines/pull-request-validation/pr-msal-instrumented.yml b/azure-pipelines/pull-request-validation/pr-msal-instrumented.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..84d995663
--- /dev/null
+++ b/azure-pipelines/pull-request-validation/pr-msal-instrumented.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# File: azure-pipelines/pull-request-validation/pr-msal-instrumented.yml
+# Description: PR validation that runs MSAL instrumented (androidTest) tests on the 1ES Ubuntu build
+#              agents (which expose KVM, so the x86_64 emulator hardware-accelerates and boots
+#              reliably; the old Microsoft-hosted macOS pipeline was flaky). This is a thin
+#              1ES-Unofficial wrapper that reuses the shared run-instrumented-tests.yml template from
+#              the AuthClientAndroidPipelines repo. gitProject: self checks out the PR commit, so this
+#              works as a Build Validation branch policy on the msal repo.
+name: $(date:yyyyMMdd)$(rev:.r)
+
+# PR validation is driven by a Build Validation branch policy in ADO, not by YAML triggers.
+pr: none
+trigger: none
+
+resources:
+  repositories:
+  - repository: 1ESPipelineTemplates
+    type: git
+    name: 1ESPipelineTemplates/1ESPipelineTemplates
+    ref: refs/tags/release
+  - repository: AuthClientAndroidPipelines
+    type: git
+    name: Engineering/AuthClientAndroidPipelines
+    ref: refs/heads/main
+
+variables:
+  - group: AndroidAuthClientAutomationSecrets
+
+extends:
+  template: v1/1ES.Unofficial.PipelineTemplate.yml@1ESPipelineTemplates
+  parameters:
+    pool:
+      name: MSSecurity-1ES-Build-Agents-Pool
+      image: MSSecurity-1ES-Ubuntu-2204
+      os: linux
+    sdl:
+      # Anti-malware is injected by default and is only supported on Windows agents.
+      enableAllTools: false
+      sourceAnalysisPool:
+        name: MSSecurity-1ES-Build-Agents-Pool
+        image: MSSecurity-1ES-Windows-2022
+        os: windows
+    stages:
+    - stage: instrumented_tests
+      displayName: MSAL Instrumented Tests
+      dependsOn: []
+      jobs:
+      - template: templates/runTests/run-instrumented-tests.yml@AuthClientAndroidPipelines
+        parameters:
+          gitProject: self
+          projectName: msal
+          gradleOptions: -Psugar=true -PlabSecret=/data/local/tmp/LabAuth.pfx
diff --git a/common b/common
index e96c46dbe..a2df2cf1e 160000
--- a/common
+++ b/common
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit e96c46dbe86d8dd05abb0ea558cd842526453514
+Subproject commit a2df2cf1ecb1707316feb1a3d7f99fa196b83bc9
diff --git a/msal/build.gradle b/msal/build.gradle
index 968462450..3fd5f9396 100644
--- a/msal/build.gradle
+++ b/msal/build.gradle
@@ -304,6 +304,16 @@ dependencies {
     // Set this dependency to use JUnit 4 rules
     androidTestImplementation "androidx.test:rules:$rootProject.rulesVersion"
     androidTestImplementation "org.mockito:mockito-android:$rootProject.ext.mockitoAndroidVersion"
+    // testutils is pulled in solely for FlakyTestRetryRule + @RetryFlakyTest (retrying flaky
+    // instrumented tests; the org.gradle.test-retry plugin only covers JVM/Robolectric unit tests).
+    // transitive = false keeps only the rule's classes and avoids dragging testutils' whole
+    // transitive graph onto the androidTest classpath.
+    androidTestLocalImplementation(project(':testutils')) {
+        transitive = false
+    }
+    androidTestDistImplementation("com.microsoft.identity:testutils:0.0+") {
+        transitive = false
+    }
     // 'local' flavor dependencies
     localApi(project(":common")) {
         transitive = true