diff --git a/crates/bashkit/docs/compatibility.md b/crates/bashkit/docs/compatibility.md
index eb5c3c618..eb5b265f1 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/docs/compatibility.md
+++ b/crates/bashkit/docs/compatibility.md
@@ -322,6 +322,7 @@ Chrono's validated strftime implementation, plus GNU `%N`, `%3N`, `%6N`, and
 | `$_` | ❌ | Last argument |
 | `$RANDOM` | ✅ | Random number (0-32767) |
 | `$SRANDOM` | ✅ | 32-bit random number from the OS CSPRNG (bash 5.1); assignment ignored |
+| `$SECONDS` | ✅ | Whole seconds since the shell (the `Bash` instance) started; `SECONDS=N` restarts the count from N |
 | `$LINENO` | ✅ | Current line number |
 
 ---
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/mod.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/mod.rs
index 521a31c80..829b950d8 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/builtins/mod.rs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ mod patch;
 mod path;
 mod pipeline;
 mod printf;
-mod random;
+pub(crate) mod random;
 mod read;
 mod retry;
 mod rg;
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/fs/rootfs.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/fs/rootfs.rs
index 1f00bf062..2ab70285d 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/fs/rootfs.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/fs/rootfs.rs
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ use super::{SearchCapable, normalize_path, vfs_join};
 use crate::error::Result;
 
 /// Directory trees served by the system layer.
+/// Fresh random UUID per read, as on Linux.
+const PROC_UUID: &str = "/proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid";
+
 const SYS_TREES: &[&str] = &["/etc", "/proc", "/bin", "/usr/bin", "/root", "/dev/zero"];
 /// Ancestors of system trees, listed with the system entries merged in.
 const SYS_ANCESTORS: &[&str] = &["/", "/usr", "/dev"];
@@ -168,7 +171,7 @@ impl RootFs {
         sys.add_dir("/root", 0o700);
         sys.add_dir("/etc/ssl/certs", 0o755);
         let version = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
-        let files: [(&str, String); 12] = [
+        let files: [(&str, String); 13] = [
             (
                 "/etc/os-release",
                 format!(
@@ -223,6 +226,8 @@ impl RootFs {
             ),
             ("/proc/loadavg", "0.00 0.00 0.00 1/1 1\n".to_string()),
             ("/proc/sys/kernel/hostname", format!("{hostname}\n")),
+            // Placeholder of the right size; reads return a fresh UUID.
+            (PROC_UUID, format!("{}\n", "0".repeat(36))),
         ];
         for (path, content) in files {
             sys.add_file(path, content, 0o644);
@@ -258,6 +263,12 @@ impl RootFs {
     }
 
     async fn sys_read(&self, p: &Path) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
+        if p == Path::new(PROC_UUID) {
+            // Like Linux: every read is a new random (v4) UUID from the OS
+            // CSPRNG, the same source as `uuidgen`.
+            let uuid = crate::builtins::random::uuid_v4().map_err(std::io::Error::other)?;
+            return Ok(format!("{uuid}\n").into_bytes());
+        }
         match self.stub_name(p) {
             Some(name) => Ok(stub(&name).into_bytes()),
             None => self.sys.read_file(p).await,
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/src/interpreter/mod.rs b/crates/bashkit/src/interpreter/mod.rs
index 43eed3bd2..454b745ab 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/src/interpreter/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/src/interpreter/mod.rs
@@ -1315,6 +1315,7 @@ struct SubshellSnapshot {
     random_state: u32,
     getopts_char_idx: usize,
     last_bg_pid: Option<String>,
+    seconds_base: (crate::time_compat::Instant, i64),
 }
 
 /// Interpreter state.
@@ -1492,6 +1493,9 @@ pub struct Interpreter {
     shell_features: ShellFeatures,
     /// Hardened profiles intentionally reduce elapsed-time precision.
     hardened_timing: bool,
+    /// `$SECONDS` reads `seconds_base.1 + whole seconds since seconds_base.0`;
+    /// set at shell start and on `SECONDS=N`.
+    seconds_base: (crate::time_compat::Instant, i64),
     /// `&` jobs run concurrently (default) or to completion at spawn.
     concurrent_jobs: bool,
     /// Nesting depth of `execute_script_body`; finished background job output
@@ -1956,6 +1960,7 @@ impl Interpreter {
             random_state: AtomicU32::new(random_seed),
             shell_features,
             hardened_timing,
+            seconds_base: (crate::time_compat::Instant::now(), 0),
             concurrent_jobs: true,
             script_depth: 0,
         }
@@ -2106,6 +2111,7 @@ impl Interpreter {
             random_state: AtomicU32::new(random_seed),
             shell_features: self.shell_features,
             hardened_timing: self.hardened_timing,
+            seconds_base: self.seconds_base,
             concurrent_jobs: self.concurrent_jobs,
             script_depth: 1,
         }
@@ -9922,6 +9928,7 @@ impl Interpreter {
             random_state: self.random_state.load(Ordering::Relaxed),
             getopts_char_idx: self.getopts_char_idx,
             last_bg_pid: self.last_bg_pid.clone(),
+            seconds_base: self.seconds_base,
         }
     }
 
@@ -9935,6 +9942,7 @@ impl Interpreter {
             .store(snap.random_state, Ordering::Relaxed);
         self.getopts_char_idx = snap.getopts_char_idx;
         self.last_bg_pid = snap.last_bg_pid;
+        self.seconds_base = snap.seconds_base;
     }
 
     /// Perform the redirections of a null command (no command word) and
@@ -10226,6 +10234,12 @@ impl Interpreter {
                 .store(value.parse::<u32>().unwrap_or(0), Ordering::Relaxed);
             return;
         }
+        // SECONDS=N restarts the count from N (non-numbers count as 0).
+        if resolved == "SECONDS" {
+            let base = value.trim().parse::<i64>().unwrap_or(0);
+            self.seconds_base = (crate::time_compat::Instant::now(), base);
+            return;
+        }
         // Attribute lookup is now a single map probe + bit test.
         let attrs = self.var_attrs_get(resolved);
         // THREAT[TM-INJ-019/020/021]: Block assignment to readonly variables
@@ -10952,11 +10966,9 @@ impl Interpreter {
                 return COMPAT_BASH_VERSION.to_string();
             }
             "SECONDS" => {
-                // Seconds since shell started - always 0 in stateless model
-                if let Some(v) = self.scoped.variables.get("SECONDS") {
-                    return v.clone();
-                }
-                return "0".to_string();
+                let (start, base) = self.seconds_base;
+                let elapsed = i64::try_from(start.elapsed().as_secs()).unwrap_or(i64::MAX);
+                return base.saturating_add(elapsed).to_string();
             }
             _ => {}
         }
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/tests/integration/snapshot_history_tests.rs b/crates/bashkit/tests/integration/snapshot_history_tests.rs
index 0519397d3..42886e8be 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/tests/integration/snapshot_history_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/bashkit/tests/integration/snapshot_history_tests.rs
@@ -304,8 +304,9 @@ async fn checkout_matches_a_full_snapshot_taken_at_the_same_point() {
         let mut via_blob = Bash::new();
         via_blob.restore_snapshot(&packed).unwrap();
 
-        // Scope to real content: /dev entries are synthetic and /dev/random differs per read.
-        let listing = "find / -path /dev -prune -o -type f -print | sort | xargs -I{} sh -c 'echo {}; cat {}'";
+        // Scope to real content: /dev entries are synthetic, and /dev/random
+        // and /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid differ per read.
+        let listing = "find / \\( -path /dev -o -path /proc/sys/kernel/random \\) -prune -o -type f -print | sort | xargs -I{} sh -c 'echo {}; cat {}'";
         assert_eq!(
             via_graph.exec(listing).await.unwrap().stdout,
             via_blob.exec(listing).await.unwrap().stdout,
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/type.test.sh b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/type.test.sh
index 0852a8325..575ac0977 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/type.test.sh
+++ b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/type.test.sh
@@ -154,3 +154,14 @@ env-exec
 denied
 conf
 ### end
+
+### rootfs_proc_random_uuid
+# /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid yields a fresh random UUID per read
+a=$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)
+b=$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)
+[[ $a =~ ^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-4[0-9a-f]{3}-[89ab][0-9a-f]{3}-[0-9a-f]{12}$ ]] && echo shape
+[ "$a" != "$b" ] && echo fresh
+### expect
+shape
+fresh
+### end
diff --git a/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/variables.test.sh b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/variables.test.sh
index 3b0831920..6ab1e24c5 100644
--- a/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/variables.test.sh
+++ b/crates/bashkit/tests/spec_cases/bash/variables.test.sh
@@ -508,11 +508,25 @@ uid_set
 ### end
 
 ### var_seconds
-# $SECONDS is set (always 0 in bashkit)
-### bash_diff
+# $SECONDS counts whole seconds since the shell started
 test -n "$SECONDS" && echo "seconds_set"
+s=$SECONDS
+sleep 1.1
+[ $((SECONDS - s)) -ge 1 ] && echo advanced
 ### expect
 seconds_set
+advanced
+### end
+
+### var_seconds_assign
+# Assigning SECONDS restarts the count from that value
+SECONDS=100
+[ "$SECONDS" -ge 100 ] && [ "$SECONDS" -le 101 ] && echo assigned
+(SECONDS=5000)
+[ "$SECONDS" -lt 5000 ] && echo subshell_kept_own
+### expect
+assigned
+subshell_kept_own
 ### end
 
 ### var_pwd_updates_with_cd
diff --git a/knowledge/foundations/vfs.md b/knowledge/foundations/vfs.md
index de8f37bda..1d96599a1 100644
--- a/knowledge/foundations/vfs.md
+++ b/knowledge/foundations/vfs.md
@@ -167,7 +167,8 @@ mounts and custom filesystems always win.
   means a host leak), `group`, `hostname`, `hosts`, `shells`, `timezone`.
 - `/proc`: static `cpuinfo` (`VIRTUAL_NPROC` CPUs), `meminfo`, `version`
   (`VIRTUAL_KERNEL_RELEASE`, same as `uname -r`), `loadavg`,
-  `sys/kernel/hostname`. No pid directories.
+  `sys/kernel/hostname`, and `sys/kernel/random/uuid` (a fresh v4 UUID from
+  the OS CSPRNG on every read, like Linux). No pid directories.
 - `/bin`, `/usr/bin`: one virtual stub per registered builtin that is not
   shell-only, answered from a shared name set on lookup and never stored as
   files (materializing them cost ~2 ms per `Bash` build). A stub's content starts with `STUB_MARKER`; executing it by
diff --git a/knowledge/log.md b/knowledge/log.md
index f6b85471a..293b6350f 100644
--- a/knowledge/log.md
+++ b/knowledge/log.md
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 ## 2026-10-07
 
+* **Fix**: `$SECONDS` counts whole seconds since the `Bash` instance was built (it was always 0), and `SECONDS=N` restarts the count from N; subshells keep their own. The rootfs gained `/proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid`, a fresh v4 UUID per read from the same CSPRNG as `uuidgen`. See [VFS](foundations/vfs.md).
 * **Feature**: Pipelines stream. From the first stage that runs shell code, stages run concurrently on forked shells over 4 KiB pipes, with backpressure and SIGPIPE: `while :; do echo x; done | head -n 2` stops the loop (`PIPESTATUS` `141 0`) instead of running it into the command limit. Single-builtin leading stages keep running in sequence (no fork). The pipe is 4 KiB rather than Linux's 64 KiB because every byte an endless producer runs ahead costs budgeted commands. Nested streaming is capped at 4 levels after a debug-build stack measurement (TM-DOS-124). L-PIPE-001 narrowed. See [Parallel Execution](foundations/parallel-execution.md#pipelines).
 * **Fix**: Pipeline stages are subshells, as in bash: `echo x | read v` leaves `v` unset and `cd /tmp | true` keeps the cwd; `shopt -s lastpipe` keeps the last stage in the shell. Streaming callers no longer see a non-last stage's output (`for ...; done | tac` streamed the loop's lines in input order). Stages still run sequentially (new L-PIPE-001). See [Parallel Execution](foundations/parallel-execution.md#pipelines).
 * **Performance**: CPython `random` seeds lazily. The snapshot's `random._inst` gets a subclass whose entry points (`random`, `getrandbits`, `getstate`, `seed`, `setstate`) seed from `os.urandom` on first use, then switch it back to `Random` and rebind those five module functions. Calls that never touch `random` skip the reseed (`pass` 3.7 to 3.5 ms). See [CPython WebAssembly Runtime](runtimes/cpython-wasm.md).