diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml b/changelogs/fragments/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..90089c5c0f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+  - apt - add support for installing ``.deb`` files whose dependencies include virtual packages (e.g. ``libglib2.0-0`` on Ubuntu 24.04) by recognizing installed providers such as ``libglib2.0-0t64``. This resolves errors like ``Dependency is not satisfiable`` when installing VS Code and other packages (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/85807).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/apt.py b/lib/ansible/modules/apt.py
index 705616bef00..c3f22680fd1 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/apt.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/apt.py
@@ -877,34 +877,48 @@ def install_deb(
                 installed_pkg = apt.Cache()[pkg_key]
                 installed_version = installed_pkg.installed.version
                 if package_version_compare(pkg_version, installed_version) == 0:
-                    # Does not need to down-/upgrade, move on to next package
                     continue
             except Exception:
-                # Must not be installed, continue with installation
                 pass
-            # Check if package is installable
             if not pkg.check():
-                if force or ("later version" in pkg._failure_string and allow_downgrade):
+                missing = getattr(pkg, "missing_deps", [])
+                all_virtual = all(cache.is_virtual_package(dep) for dep in missing)
+                if all_virtual:
+                    pass
+                elif force or ("later version" in pkg._failure_string and allow_downgrade):
                     pass
                 else:
                     m.fail_json(msg=pkg._failure_string)
 
-            # add any missing deps to the list of deps we need
-            # to install so they're all done in one shot
-            deps_to_install.extend(pkg.missing_deps)
+            # handle virtual package dependencies properly
+            missing_deps = []
+            for dep in pkg.missing_deps:
+                try:
+                    if cache.is_virtual_package(dep):
+                        providers = cache.get_providing_packages(dep)
+                        if providers:
+                            if any(cache[p].installed for p in providers if p in cache):
+                                continue
+                            else:
+                                missing_deps.append(dep)
+                        else:
+                            missing_deps.append(dep)
+                    else:
+                        missing_deps.append(dep)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    missing_deps.append(dep)
+
+            deps_to_install.extend(missing_deps)
 
         except Exception as e:
             m.fail_json(msg="Unable to install package: %s" % to_native(e))
 
-        # Install 'Recommends' of this deb file
         if install_recommends:
             pkg_recommends = get_field_of_deb(m, deb_file, "Recommends")
             deps_to_install.extend([pkg_name.strip() for pkg_name in pkg_recommends.split()])
 
-        # and add this deb to the list of packages to install
         pkgs_to_install.append(deb_file)
 
-    # install the deps through apt
     retvals = {}
     if deps_to_install:
         install_dpkg_options = f"{expand_dpkg_options(dpkg_options)} -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout={lock_timeout}"
@@ -934,6 +948,44 @@ def install_deb(
         with PolicyRcD(m):
             rc, out, err = m.run_command(cmd)
 
+        # handle missing virtual dependencies
+        if rc != 0 and "dependency problems" in err:
+            missing_deps = []
+            for line in err.splitlines():
+                if "depends on" in line and "however" in line:
+                    dep = line.split("depends on", 1)[1].split(";", 1)[0].strip()
+                    if dep:
+                        missing_deps.append(dep)
+
+            resolved = []
+            for dep in missing_deps:
+                try:
+                    if cache.is_virtual_package(dep):
+                        providers = cache.get_providing_packages(dep)
+                        if providers:
+                            provider = providers[0]
+                            resolved.append(provider.name)
+                except Exception:
+                    continue
+
+            if resolved:
+                m.warn("dpkg dependency error — virtual deps: %s → installing providers: %s"
+                       % (', '.join(missing_deps), ', '.join(resolved)))
+                (success, retvals) = install(
+                    m=m, pkgspec=resolved, cache=cache,
+                    install_recommends=True,
+                    fail_on_autoremove=fail_on_autoremove,
+                    allow_unauthenticated=allow_unauthenticated,
+                    allow_downgrade=allow_downgrade,
+                    allow_change_held_packages=allow_change_held_packages,
+                    dpkg_options=expand_dpkg_options(dpkg_options),
+                )
+                if not success:
+                    m.warn("Provider install failed, attempting apt --fix-broken install")
+                    m.run_command("/usr/bin/apt-get -y --fix-broken install")
+
+                rc, out, err = m.run_command(cmd)
+
         if "stdout" in retvals:
             stdout = retvals["stdout"] + out
         else:
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a3600379370
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+---
+- block:
+    - name: Create directory for test .deb
+      ansible.builtin.file:
+        path: /tmp/virtual-test/DEBIAN
+        state: directory
+
+    - name: Create a test .deb file that depends on a virtual package
+      ansible.builtin.shell: |
+        cat > /tmp/virtual-test/DEBIAN/control << EOF
+        Package: virtual-test-pkg
+        Version: 1.0
+        Architecture: all
+        Description: Test package depending on virtual package
+        Depends: mail-transport-agent
+        EOF
+        dpkg-deb --build /tmp/virtual-test /tmp/virtual-test.deb
+      args:
+        creates: /tmp/virtual-test.deb
+
+    - name: Remove any existing MTA providers
+      ansible.builtin.apt:
+        name:
+          - exim4
+          - postfix
+          - sendmail
+        state: absent
+
+    - name: Test the patch - install .deb with virtual package dependency
+      ansible.builtin.apt:
+        deb: /tmp/virtual-test.deb
+        state: present
+      register: patch_test_result
+
+    - name: Debug - Show patch test result
+      ansible.builtin.debug:
+        var: patch_test_result
+
+    - name: Check if a virtual package provider was automatically installed
+      ansible.builtin.shell: |
+        dpkg -l | grep -E "^ii" | grep -E "(exim|postfix|sendmail)" && echo "SUCCESS: Virtual package provider was installed" || echo "FAIL: No provider installed"
+      register: provider_check
+      changed_when: false
+
+    - name: Show provider check result
+      ansible.builtin.debug:
+        var: provider_check.stdout
+
+    - name: Assert the patch worked
+      ansible.builtin.assert:
+        that:
+          - patch_test_result is succeeded
+          - "'SUCCESS' in provider_check.stdout"
+        fail_msg: "The patch failed to properly resolve virtual package dependencies when installing .deb files"
+
+  always:
+    - name: Clean up test package
+      ansible.builtin.file:
+        path: /tmp/virtual-test.deb
+        state: absent
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
index 4ae93219d69..3faeb9cd3be 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/apt/tasks/main.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 
   - import_tasks: 'apt-builddep.yml'
 
+  - import_tasks: apt_virtual_pkg_fix.yml
+
   - block:
       - import_tasks: 'repo.yml'
     always:
diff --git a/test/units/modules/test_apt.py b/test/units/modules/test_apt.py
index d207320c82a..2d87d2f1b25 100644
--- a/test/units/modules/test_apt.py
+++ b/test/units/modules/test_apt.py
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import collections
 
-from ansible.modules.apt import expand_pkgspec_from_fnmatches
 import pytest
+from ansible.modules.apt import expand_pkgspec_from_fnmatches
+
 
 FakePackage = collections.namedtuple("Package", ("name",))
 fake_cache = [