diff --git a/dockerfiles/LocalKeySignatureScript.sh b/dockerfiles/LocalKeySignatureScript.sh
index 210cb3f444..d4d4ae265c 100755
--- a/dockerfiles/LocalKeySignatureScript.sh
+++ b/dockerfiles/LocalKeySignatureScript.sh
@@ -1,34 +1,101 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
 
-set -e
+# Parameters
+BINARY_PATH="${1:-main}"
+SIGNER_SOURCE_PATH="${2:-/home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/main}"
+SIGNER_TOOL_PATH="/tmp/enclavesigner"
+
+# Private key path inside the build container (file must exist in the build context)
+LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH="${LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH:-/home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/sgx_enclave_signing_key_rsa3072_e3.pem}"
 
 TEMP_DIR="/tmp/sgx_local_signing"
-DOCKER_SIGNATURE_PATH="/tmp/signature.b64"
-DOCKER_MODULUS_PATH="/tmp/modulus.b64"
+SIG_B64_PATH="/tmp/signature.b64"
+MOD_B64_PATH="/tmp/modulus.b64"
+
+echo "====== LOCAL KEY SIGNATURE REPLACEMENT (FILE-BASED KEY, NO AZURE) ======"
+echo "Using private key: $LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH"
+
+echo "====== ENSURING DEPENDENCIES ======"
+if ! command -v openssl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  apt-get update
+  apt-get install -y openssl ca-certificates
+  apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "$LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Private key file not found at: $LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH"
+  echo "Make sure you generated it on the host and that it is included in the Docker build context."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "====== BUILDING ENCLAVE SIGNER TOOL ======"
+if [ -d "$SIGNER_SOURCE_PATH" ]; then
+  current_dir="$(pwd)"
+  cd "$SIGNER_SOURCE_PATH"
+  go build -o "$SIGNER_TOOL_PATH" .
+  cd "$current_dir"
+else
+  echo "ERROR: Signer source path not found: $SIGNER_SOURCE_PATH"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "====== STEP 1: EXTRACT HASH FROM EGO-SIGNED ENCLAVE ======"
+cp "$BINARY_PATH" "$BINARY_PATH.original"
+hash_b64="$("$SIGNER_TOOL_PATH" extract_hash "$BINARY_PATH")"
+echo "$hash_b64" > /tmp/hash.b64
+echo "Hash (Base64) extracted: $(echo "$hash_b64" | head -c 50)..."
 
-main() {
-    DIGEST_B64="$1"
+echo "====== STEP 2: SIGN USING EXISTING PRIVATE KEY ======"
+mkdir -p "$TEMP_DIR"
 
-    mkdir -p "$TEMP_DIR"
+# Optional sanity checks (fail fast if key is wrong)
+bits="$(openssl rsa -in "$LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH" -text -noout 2>/dev/null | awk '/Private-Key:/ {gsub("[()]", "", $2); print $2; exit}')"
+exp="$(openssl rsa -in "$LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH" -text -noout 2>/dev/null | awk -F'[()]' '/publicExponent/ {print $2; exit}')"
+if [ "${bits:-}" != "3072" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Expected RSA-3072 key, got: ${bits:-unknown}"
+  exit 1
+fi
+if [ "${exp:-}" != "3" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Expected public exponent e=3, got: ${exp:-unknown}"
+  exit 1
+fi
 
-    # Generate RSA key
-    openssl genrsa -3 -out "$TEMP_DIR/private_key.pem" 3072 2>/dev/null
+# Extract modulus (n) and encode as Base64 (raw bytes)
+modulus_hex="$(openssl rsa -in "$LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH" -modulus -noout 2>/dev/null | cut -d'=' -f2)"
+printf '%s' "$modulus_hex" | xxd -r -p > "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin"
+modulus_b64="$(base64 -w 0 < "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin" 2>/dev/null || base64 < "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin" | tr -d '\n')"
 
-    # Extract modulus
-    modulus_hex=$(openssl rsa -in "$TEMP_DIR/private_key.pem" -modulus -noout 2>/dev/null | cut -d'=' -f2)
-    printf '%s' "$modulus_hex" | xxd -r -p > "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin"
-    modulus_b64=$(base64 -w 0 < "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin" 2>/dev/null || base64 < "$TEMP_DIR/modulus.bin" | tr -d '\n')
-    echo "modulus: $modulus_b64"
+# Decode digest and sign using PKCS#1 v1.5 padding (raw RSA op)
+printf '%s' "$hash_b64" | base64 -d > "$TEMP_DIR/digest.bin"
+openssl rsautl -sign -pkcs -inkey "$LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH" -in "$TEMP_DIR/digest.bin" -out "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" >/dev/null 2>&1
+signature_b64="$(base64 -w 0 < "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" 2>/dev/null || base64 < "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" | tr -d '\n')"
 
-    # Sign
-    printf '%s' "$DIGEST_B64" | base64 -d > "$TEMP_DIR/digest.bin"
-    openssl rsautl -sign -in "$TEMP_DIR/digest.bin" -inkey "$TEMP_DIR/private_key.pem" -pkcs -out "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" 2>/dev/null
-    signature_b64=$(base64 -w 0 < "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" 2>/dev/null || base64 < "$TEMP_DIR/signature.bin" | tr -d '\n')
-    echo "sig: signature_b64"
+printf '%s' "$signature_b64" > "$SIG_B64_PATH"
+printf '%s' "$modulus_b64" > "$MOD_B64_PATH"
 
-    # Save outputs
-    printf '%s' "$signature_b64" > "$DOCKER_SIGNATURE_PATH"
-    printf '%s' "$modulus_b64" > "$DOCKER_MODULUS_PATH"
+if [ ! -s "$SIG_B64_PATH" ] || [ ! -s "$MOD_B64_PATH" ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Local signing failed (empty signature/modulus)."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Signature (Base64): $(echo "$signature_b64" | head -c 50)..."
+echo "Modulus   (Base64): $(echo "$modulus_b64"   | head -c 50)..."
+
+echo "====== STEP 3: REPLACE SIGNATURE IN ENCLAVE BINARY ======"
+"$SIGNER_TOOL_PATH" replace "$BINARY_PATH" "$signature_b64" "$modulus_b64" "$BINARY_PATH.local_signed" 2>&1
+
+echo "====== VERIFYING LOCALLY-SIGNED ENCLAVE ======"
+"$SIGNER_TOOL_PATH" verify "$BINARY_PATH.local_signed" 2>&1 || {
+  echo "ERROR: Locally-signed enclave verification FAILED!"
+  exit 1
 }
 
-main "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
+mv "$BINARY_PATH.local_signed" "$BINARY_PATH"
+echo "Enclave signature successfully replaced with LOCAL key signature"
+
+echo "====== FINAL VERIFICATION ======"
+"$SIGNER_TOOL_PATH" verify "$BINARY_PATH" 2>&1
+
+ls -la "$BINARY_PATH"
+echo "Build completed successfully with LOCAL key signature integration"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/dockerfiles/enclave.Dockerfile b/dockerfiles/enclave.Dockerfile
index 2365ed9736..fc9439a25b 100644
--- a/dockerfiles/enclave.Dockerfile
+++ b/dockerfiles/enclave.Dockerfile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1.6
+
 # for integration with the Azure Key Vault, it needs an azure "tenant id" and "subscription id" to be passed as build arguments
 # The build process when using these arguments is interactive. It requires logging in on Azure and approving the login request.
 ARG AZURE_TENANT_ID
@@ -42,8 +44,10 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
 # Sign the enclave executable
 RUN ego sign enclave.json
 
-# Run the complete Azure HSM setup (builds signer tool, signs binary, or skips if not needed)
-RUN /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/AzureHSMSignatureScript.sh main /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/main
+# Use a local signing key provided from the host as a BuildKit secret (not baked into the image layers)
+RUN --mount=type=secret,id=sgx_signing_key,target=/run/secrets/sgx_signing_key,required=true \
+    LOCAL_SIGNING_KEY_PATH=/run/secrets/sgx_signing_key \
+    /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/LocalKeySignatureScript.sh main /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/tools/enclavesigner/main
 
 # Trigger a new build stage and use the smaller ego version:
 FROM ghcr.io/edgelesssys/ego-deploy:v1.8.0
@@ -51,7 +55,7 @@ FROM ghcr.io/edgelesssys/ego-deploy:v1.8.0
 # Copy just the binary for the enclave into this build stage
 COPY --from=build-enclave \
     /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/go/enclave/main /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/go/enclave/main
-    
+
 WORKDIR /home/obscuro/go-obscuro/go/enclave/main
 
 # simulation mode is ACTIVE by default
diff --git a/tools/enclavesigner/README.MD b/tools/enclavesigner/README.MD
index d212f7828f..b47c516412 100644
--- a/tools/enclavesigner/README.MD
+++ b/tools/enclavesigner/README.MD
@@ -1,3 +1,15 @@
 Utility to verify and replace the signature of enclave binaries.
 
-We use it during our build process to replace the signature on the enclave binaries with one generated securely.
\ No newline at end of file
+We use it during our build process to replace the signature on the enclave binaries with one generated securely.
+
+
+## Signing using local key
+
+1. First generate the key using `GenerateImageSigningKey.sh`.
+This will create a file ``sgx_enclave_signing_key_rsa3072_e3.pem`` in the current directory.
+2. If you already have the key , just copy it to the local file system.
+3. Build the enclave binaries using 
+```DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build \
+-f dockerfiles/enclave.Dockerfile \
+--secret id=sgx_signing_key,src=/absolute/path/to/sgx_enclave_signing_key_rsa3072_e3.pem \
+-t enclave:local-signed .```
\ No newline at end of file